What if
by pasta16
Summary: One-shots about Bentley and Penelope...Chapter 7 is B/P in the city after the vault living in a world that hates interspecies marrige and dating, saying it is just not right! Then another mouse comes along, liking P, and that relationship would be okay...
1. Second Chance

I lay in bed. I knew I had to start getting up. I couldn't just miss this, as much as I wanted to. It was all my fault and I had to be there. A knock came from the room's door. "Bentley? You up yet?" Murray came over and sat at the end of my bed. "We gotta get going..." he gulped. "We should be there." I knew he felt terrible, but no one knew how dreadful I really felt. I sat up, and swung my legs into my chair. Murray got up, tears running down his face, as he passed me a pair of dark pants and a black button down shirt. The hippo was already dressed in a pair of jeans and a black polo.

It seemed like hours for me to get dressed. When I finally wheeled out into the room, they were ready. It was odd seeing them entirely dressed in black, not talking at all. "I guess we are all ready," Sly said and we all piled into the van outside. It was a long, silent ride. When we reached the building, the six of us got out and went into the grey-dreary structure.

I rolled down the hallway, and stopped at the door. We could all hear the dreadful music. "Look, this is like sad and depressing. Totally not my scene, bro. I be just waiting outside..." We all looked at Dimitri. He stopped talking, and stood still looking at the door. Sly was the first to open the door. "Where be everyone?" Dimitri asked looking everywhere. It was barren room except for ten rows of chairs and numerous flowers…and the most important thing.

"The family didn't want us here the same time as everyone else." Sly explained. I didn't listen to the rest of the explanation that followed. I wheeled up to the last remaining object in the room. Never had I seen a coffin before. It was white with gold handles. Inside laid her, in a pink dress with her blond hair laid down straight. It was odd seeing her that way, knowing that only a week and a half ago she was sitting in the safe house reading a book twice the size of her.

***************

I was looking all over for her on Lefwee's boat. After Sly made dead sure that she wasn't on land, I sent Guru onto of Crusher to get rid of all the crew on board. Then I jumped on to the boat to look for her. After a few minutes, I reached the middle of the boat with a grate.

"Done!" I opened the grate. I looked down smiling at Penelope. She jumped out. Somehow, she ended up in a blue dress and brown corset. My heart skipped looking at the beauty in front of me.

"Bentley! I...you...." She started talking, and when I wasn't focused, Lefwee jumps behind her and points his sword at her throat.

"Call off you squid, or the girl gets it!" He threatened.

"Back off Guru, I'll deal with this guy." I said, getting Guru to back off.

"Aye, that you have. Set me up to think I'd out smarted ya, then fooled me into the deep waters with this beast. I tip my hat to ye. You're the cleverest man I've ever had the pleasure of beatin'." He moved his sword to the back of Penelope. Then he saw Sly parachuting in. The sword in his hand, made a quick move right into her. Pulling his sword out, he made a swipe for Sly that had landed, pointing his cane at him. They ran off, having a major fight, while I was to busy on the ground holding her. She laid limp in my arms, her white fur quickly matting with warm blood.

"Penelope! You ok?" I was screaming. I had never dealt with this kind of thing before. She moaned. I grabbed her pink bandanna, pressing it onto her stomach, trying to stop the wound. "Just hold on!" I looked around looking for anyone._ Where was everyone?_

"Bentley...I...I...lov..." Her breathing was getting more and more shallow.

"Penelope, don't worry. Just...ummm...save your energy." She looked up with me with her big blue eyes. Her glasses were tilted on her ace, threatening to fall off. Her small hand moved on top of my big one holding the bandanna. She gave a small smile up at me, and then just like that, her eyes glassed over, and her heart stopped.

*****

A hand on my shoulder appeared on my shoulder. Just like last time when I was holding her body, Sly stood over top of me, hand on my shoulder. "We should go." Only this time I couldn't take her with me.

I nodded, knowing her family wanted us gone; only giving us 20 minutes to say good-bye. I couldn't talk to her family, knowing all of this was my fault. Their daughter had been safe in the Air Force as well as the ACES Competition, but 5 months with us, and I had gotten her killed by a pirate. Sly had gotten the job of telling her parents. It clearly hadn't gone well.

I pulled out the flower from her RC car into her hand. I placed my hand on her cheek. She was so cold. "I am so sorry." Tears ran down my face. Every one of us had tears down our faces, our hearts broken in half. How something like this could happen to someone like her. They all started to turn, not wanting to stay any longer.

"Bentley?" Sly asked, trying to get me to leave, knowing no one could take much more of this. "She was all our friend. And this wasn't your fault."

"Wrong." I said bitterly.

"Huh?" Sly looked at me, and I kept facing her.

"You're wrong. It was completely my fault. I was madly in love with her, to distracted by her to notice Lefwee coming from behind her, putting the sword to her back." Sly stood there stunned, not believing I had just said that. Not believing I had actually fallen for someone. Someone that was clearly in love with him, and hadn't told him...or her.

I took my hand from her cheek, and turned my chair to leave. Everyone just stood there, stunned that I hadn't said anything for the past week except to profess my love out loud.

Once we had gotten back to the Safe house, I went right into the room that I, Sly, and Murray shared. I laid there in my bed, just thinking of her. Remembering the smell of her hair, or the way she would get this adorable face when working on an invention. Even when she messed up her words when talking to Sly because she was so embarrassed ran through my mind. But the worst of it was what she was trying to say. The last words of her life were 'Bentley, I, you' a mumble and 'Bentley' followed by a stutter. I would never know what she was trying to say.

The worst of it, was trying to figure out what to do now. What if everyone still wanted to open the vault? I would need to find another RC specialist. I know I couldn't finish the plans or just find someone else. Every time I even thought about either on of them, I thought about looking up from them to get a peek at her working on her RC stuff.

She was gone....

It was all my fault....

I should have said something.....

I just stood back and watched....

What if....

.....I saved her?

.....I had said I loved her?

.....she liked me?

Hours later, Sly and Murray came in to fall asleep. Murray was exhausted, and fell asleep instantly. He had been sleeping a lot lately because of all of this. Sly tossed and turned, finally falling asleep. I made sure to get up quietly, not wanting to wake him up from his light sleep. Instead of the usual chair I used, I got in the normal on I used when we got aboard planes or went undercover. It had no weapons or tools, but it also didn't have a tracking device.

I grabbed only a small bag, already filled with clothes and some hard cash. It also held her copy of _Fahrenheit 451_, her favorite book. We had a 5 hour "discussion" on which was better, this book or _1984_. Eventually, Sly yelled at us to go to asleep, and then we realized it was 2 AM and we had to steal the boat from Blood Bath Bay Harbor to get to Dagger Isle in only a few hours. If only I had realized it would be one of our last conversations, I would have said something much more meaningful. I wheeled out side the safe house, ready to just disappear.

"You know, I remember you telling Murray it wasn't his fault about the accident, yet he refused to believe you. He disappeared, and both of us felt so depressed." I looked up, and sure enough, Sly was sitting there on a second story window sill. "At least he told us he was leaving."

"Leave me alone Sly. This is much different. This really was my fault." I continued to leave.

"Bullshit Bentley! Lefwee only did what he did because he saw me parachuting in."

"You mean what I told you to do." He stood quiet. He knew he wouldn't win this fight. I was leaving, and he could do nothing about it. I turned, and went about a block before he caught up.

"She would never want you to do this." He said, running catching up to me.

"She wouldn't care! She loved you remember!" I yelled bitterly at him. Tears ran down my face remembering her flirt with him, trying to impress her. And he didn't even care for her.

"Be careful. Got it?" Was all he said. He jumped onto the roof of the building along side of us, and I could feel him watching me until I had gotten on a subway. No real destination ran through my mind. All I knew was I had to leave.

***************

Penelope Ann Manors

November 4, 1981-August 23, 2004

I think all of us certainly believed the statistics which said that probably 88% chance of

mission success and maybe 96% chance of survival. And we were willing to take those odds.

-Alan B. Shepard, Jr.

I wasn't sure how many times I had come to the cemetery. Or how many hours I would just sit in front of her grave. It had been 3 months since I left. I had ended up living in an apartment only a half hour bus-ride from here. I was either here staring at the cold, gray stone or back at my apartment, working on anything. Most people when they lose someone dear to them become depressed and some fall obsessed into drinks or gambling. Others fill their day surrounded with people so they never have to be alone. Or some just cry by themselves, never wanting to do anything.

I became obsessed working on machines. Currently, I was trying to make a time machine. It was hard work, but I would lose hours just soaking myself in my work. And when I came up for air, I would come here, begging for forgiveness from someone that would never answer. I had seen some of her family who would come and lay flowers and visit the grave, but I would leave before they would get close. Unfortunately, this time, I was to deep in thought to notice the blonde behind me.

"Hmmm…so I finally meet the mysterious Bentley." I was shocked and turned around to see someone that look just like her: A small white mouse, with long flowing blond hair. She smiled and offered her hand. "I'm Paris, Penelope's sister." I took her hand giving a nod.

"She told you about us?"

"The past few years, we have told each other everything, including the Cooper gang stuff"

"Only the past few years?"

"We are twins, her being an only child for 11 minutes until I came along. She was the smart older sister that worried about everything and was happy looking like a tom boy. I was the care-free younger sister, who was much more obsessed with guys then studying and had to always wear the latest fashions. We had to share a small room. We were two totally different people suck together. It wasn't until the end of Junior Year in high school did we become close."

"What happen?" I looked at her, not wanting to leave, wanting Paris to tell me everything about her. Well, I though, it was more of a need then a want.

"The night before the retake of the SAT's, I got really drunk. I came home and passed out. Next thing I knew it was 3:30 PM on Saturday and I had missed the test. I look over, and saw her changing from one of my skirts and blouses into her jeans and baggy shirt. 'I hope you will be happy with a 1355' which was amazing back then when a perfect score was 1600. It was all she said before she left, leaving a glass of water and aspirin for me. After that, we got closer, and once I left for collage and she went to the United States Air Force, we got even closer, since we didn't spend every single moment together as the 'twins'." She placed a flower that looked like the one Penelope had on her RC car on the grave and went back to stand with me.

After a few moments I asked, "She really liked Alan Shepard didn't she?"

"She was obsessed with him. It was why she started in the Air Force. She wanted to be just like him, and get to fly in space. I believe you all ready knew she was crazy about him."

"Why do you say that?" I looked at her. She was short like her sister, so when sitting in my chair I could see her face to face.

"'Rodger Bentley. Let's light this candle!'" was all she had to say. I remembered standing in Blood Bath Bay looking for a chest that held a treasure map. She was helping me, using an invention she created called a hover-spectrometer. When I said I was ready, she replied with her Alan Shepard quote.

"I guess she does tell you everything."

"Yes, she does." She pulled out a CD. "I have needed to give this to you for awhile, but you kept disappearing before I could get it to you." I took the CD, trying to figure what it was. "When I went off to college, I always got these creepy calls from guys. I couldn't really call the police since they wouldn't be able to do anything, so Penelope came up with this recorder. Every one of my phone calls would be recorded onto a laptop, and could be burned onto a disk if the call sounded creepy enough to contact the cops. I talked to her the night before it happened, after the blinding dust mishap, and I think you should hear it."

I looked at it, wondering what it could possibly say.

***************

"Hey sis! How's the heist going?" That must be Paris I though, they looked that same, but Paris had a higher tone and a more excited way of talking.

"Ok. Currently we are stealing a treasure in Blood Bath Bay." My heart stopped when I heard her.

"Get out. For real?"

"Yep. I even stole a pirate map tonight."

"OMG! That is so sweet. What does it look like?"

"Surprisingly, like a treasure map." I smiled at her sarcastic remark. It had taken me a week to convince myself to listen to it. Now, I looked at the blue screen with the music player on giving me some of the last words she said.

"Don't be such a smart ass. Anyway, down to the important stuff. Sly kiss you yet?" My heart stopped. I pressed pause. There was no way I could listen to her talk about Sly! Why would Paris give this to me? Was this some sick joke to get back at me for getting her sister killed? I backed away from the computer, wonder why she would do this.

But part of my mind told me that it was Penelope talking, something I just had to listen to. I wheeled back to the computer, pressing play.

"Jeez Paris. He is just the field man. I don't think it would work out between us even if he did like me." My heart stopped again, but this time for another reason.

"Whoa, hold up. Yesterday you were all lovey-dovey over him. Now, he's nothing?"

"He isn't 'nothing.' He is just blindingly cute."

"Yes! Now what amazing cloud covered up the hot sun?" Silence went on for a few moments. I closed my eyes, trying to see her answer the question. Probably telling her sister that it was no one, just Bentley, that showed her that the relationship wouldn't work out to well.

"I think I have fallen in love with Bentley." My eyes widened. I forgot how to breath. My heart beat 10 times faster then usual. It took awhile to sink in. That was the first thing I would have hoped to hear her say, but the last thing I ever though she would say to answer her sister's question. Then Paris' voice came on again.

"You fell for a crippled." That statement made me fall right back to earth. It kind of made me want to find and kill her.

"Paris, remind me when I see you to kill you." She said in such a voice it scared me. I smiled and Paris laughed.

"Okay, okay. Just making sure. Now, tell me the details, 'cuz last night he was just the weirdo that would just stare at you all the time." I groaned. Of course she would have noticed that I looked at her almost all the time. She wasn't stupid.

"Well, he still is just the weirdo that would just stare at me all the time. I haven't told him anything." She said the last sentence as if she felt guilty about saying nothing yet.

"We will get back to that comment later. Now, how did you find out."

"We were looking for the treasure map with one of my inventions. I got in position to control it on a roof, and said into my microphone 'Rodger Bentley, let's light this candle.'

"You didn't!"

"Is there a problem with that?"

"You must have sounded like such a geek!" Again, I got that feeling of wanting to hurt Paris.

"So what."

"And he heard you say that?!?"

"Yes."

"And his reply was 'OMG your crazy'." She said the last part in a deep voice. I tried to remember what I had said that she had actually heard. She couldn't have heard what I had actually said. She said she didn't hear it. It was quiet again and Paris said, "Come on, I know you have that amazing memory. You know what he said word for word.!"

"Well...he kinda forgot to turn off his microphone, so he doesn't know I heard him say it. 'Be still my heart!...she made an obscure NASA reference! Why do the girls always have to go for Sly! It's just not fair!'."

"Wow, he is as much as a geek then you." I heard Paris give this laugh.

"Don't you dare laugh. It's sweet!" Paris stopped shortly, and I was trying to get over the embarrassment of her actually hearing me. "I knew he would be embarrassed if I commented on it, so I pretending not to hear him and asked him to repeat."

"What he say for a cover-up?"

"The weather was perfect for lift-off." They both giggled. I felt like an idiot, but I was starting to understand why Paris gave my the recording. "After that, we went to get the map. And he said some things that really made me think."

"Ohh....what he say?"

"Personal things, which is really none of your business. It really wasn't my business either." I knew she was talking about the comment I made about being in my chair and how jealous I was of Sly for being able to do all those tricks.

"Okay. So then what, or is that when you fell madly in love." Paris made kissy noises over the phone. Then Paris laughed.

"No, he didn't save me from utter death yet."

"Your kidding right?"

"We found the map, and we saw the Pirate that had the map. His name is Lefwee. Watching him for only a few moments, and he killed his first mate for no reason at all." She went on, ignoring Paris' comment.

"What? OMG!"

"I know. It took a lot not to scream. He put his hand over my mouth, and my hands ended on top of his. We were both so scared, I didn't think about it right then. But now that I think about it, it was rather comforting." She said and Paris sighed. I had totally forgotten that. I was such an idiot for forgetting something she clearly cared about so much about.

"Except for the whole death thing, that is so cute! But you need to be seriously careful with this guy. He will totally hurt you!" I do believe, this would be foreshadowing. Why didn't Paris talk her out of doing it? She would have listened to Paris that it was way to dangerous.

"I know. I will be careful, don't worry. After that, we found the map which was surrounded by all these traps. He left to..."

"HE LEFT YOU WITH THE KILLER PIRATE?!?!?!" I remembered that. I told her we should go together, but she wanted to stay. I didn't purposely leave her with Lefwee.

"He left to get my tools. I told him to go by himself so I could focus on the traps a little. After a few minutes, I got the map, but the a bunch a dust got into my eyes blinding me."

"How? You wear glasses! Also, that geek should have made you come with him." the first was obvious, but the second was true. I should have made her come with me.

"I wear glasses, not goggles. They got under them into my eyes. And he tried to get me to go, but he knew I wouldn't exactly listen to him so he left."

"Wow. Your such a stupid genius. And I hope this is the near-death situation."

"Yes, it is. He used one of his gadgets to get me out, and back to the safe house. I almost cried when I heard him yell 'Penelope!'."

"Aww...that is so cute, minus the whole situation your in. But I guess weird things like that are always happening to you right, Mr. Baron?"

"Yeah."

"So anyway, WHY THE HELL HAVEN'T YOU TOLD HIM!?!?!?!?!?" Somehow, when listening to them, I moved really close to the speaker. The shrill scream really hurt.

"Oww! Kinda loud Paris."

"I'm allowed to be. How does he not know. You know he loves you, why don't you just tell him?"

"I tried. I just don't know how...."

"Say his name, pause and say 'I love you'. Now try it."

"Bentley! I...I...lovv..." She started stuttering. My entire body was shaking. Had she started to say that on the ship?

"Wow, can't even say it to the nothing beside you."

"Shut up. I will...eventually...."

"If you open the Vault and he doesn't know, I'm gonna tell him, dressed as you, and give him a big kiss,...on the lips."

"Jerk."

"I'm not the one that can't tell someone how I feel about them. You guys could grow old together and have these mutant smart kids."

"Already planning the wedding then?"

"Yep. Two years from today. Ten o'clock, don't be late."

"Ha-ha. Oh...umm...I got to go. Bye."

"NO!!!" I yelled at my computer. She couldn't leave. She had to keep talking. She just had to....

"Uhhh...ok, bye?" She had hung up before Paris said good-bye. "Crazy girl.." and the recording ended.

I sat there looking at the blue screen, soaking it all in. She had loved me, and tried to tell me. And I hadn't let her. One thing had bugged me though. Why did she hang up so fast?

I ended up falling asleep in my chair. Recently, I hadn't been getting much sleep, but by the time I woke up, I had slept for 2 days. My back hurt, my head ached, and I was literally starving to death.

None of it mattered. She had loved me.

Then it came rushing back to me.

I killed her.

Whoever said building a time machine would be hard was right.

Whoever said building a time machine is impossible was wrong.

I had worked on it for two years non-stop. Truly the only time I stopped was when I fell over from exhaustion or hunger. And of course, to see her or listen to the recording. I knew the entire recording by heart, but to hear her say the words never got old. And every time she said she had fallen in love with me, still surprised me every time.

What I hoped the finished project was, looked like a metal basketball. Small, but extremely heavy. A key pad on the top was how to work it. I just hoped it worked this time. I was tired of getting yelled at by my landlord after every failed attempt, which gave off a loud bang and occasional set off fire alarm.

I wasn't sure how to fix the past. I wasn't sure if I should save her, tell her not to go, or even tell my past self not to ask her to join. "I just don't know how to save her." I sobbed into the machine, using it somewhat like a pillow. A bright flash of yellow light, and I was on the ground out of my chair. Just like all the other failed attempts. Just this time, I smelled a salty sea and I was outside. It was just starting to get dark, the first stars starting to appear.

And hear the most beautiful voice ever. "Oh...umm...I got to go. Bye" She closed her phone and ran over to me. "Bentley!? Are you ok? What are you doing up here?" She stopped short. "Are you...Bentley?" I knew I had changed over the past two years. My hair was long and unwashed. I knew I was skinner from not eating much since my clothes kept getting baggier and baggier.

I looked up at her. We were on the roof of the safe house in Blood Bath Bay. I tried to answer, but no words came out. She kneeled down next to me, helping me sit up. The wheelchair was to my far left and the "basketball" was to my far right. The mouse wore a look of utter confusion and affection.

"Kinda." That was when I started crying. She looked at me confused.

"B…b…Bentley?" She stuttered, trying to figure what was happening. She looked me up and down, trying to focus more in the dark. I nodded. "You look older, and much thinner. And you have hair....How Bentley...?"

"A time machine." She nodded. Thankfully she was the only other person that would believe I made a working time machine, and didn't scream to get the gang's attention. "I came to warn you that you are going to d..." She stopped me by putting her hand to my mouth.

"You can't."

I looked at her confused, grabbing her hand so I could talk. "What? No listen to me. Tomorrow your going to..."

Using her other hand, she stopped me again. "Whatever might happen tomorrow, you can't tell me." She moved her hand and we looked at each other.

I gulped. "Please, just listen...." She looked at me, tears flowing down her face.

"Whatever might happen tomorrow happened because fate wanted it to. Things, good and bad, happen because they need to. Everything always works out for the best." We continued to look at each other.

"That is bullshit. Fate can't possible want you to die!" I yelled, grabbing her hand even harder. "I love you, and fate took you way from me before I could ever say that!"

"That means....I never told you...." She looked more depressed about not saying anything then dying.

I let go of her hand, and grabbed her around the middle, pulling her onto my lap. I placed my head on top of her. No wonder why Lefwee loved the smell of her hair; it was amazing. I whispered, "You tried to, I was just too stupid to realize. Only when your sister gave me a recording of that phone call did I find out." Tears streamed out of both of our eyes. "Please, tomorrow just...."

She looked up at me with her big eyes and I quieted down again. "Everything is meant to happen. I'm sorry Bentley." She stuttered, her sweet voice filled with shock and despair. We sat on the roof, just surrounded by darkness. She wasn't going to listen, and she was just as much of a hard-head as me. But I wasn't just going to let her walk away. I moved my head to look down at her; her head on my chest. With my left arm still wrapped around her, I used my right to lift up her head. Both of us could have just stared at each other forever, but I knew I didn't have that amount of time. She knew it to as we both tilted our heads slightly to the right, locking us into the most meaningful kiss of my—hopefully our—life.

It was long, sweet, and perfect. I hated that she would do this to me; allow us to do this now, but allow herself to die as I tossed her a life-saver. It seemed like she read my mind and after the kiss she said. "I'm sorry. But what if in 5 years I make this machine that hurts a lot of people? I would never be able to live with myself."

"Well I can't live with myself! It was all my fault!"

"I don't believe you would ever do something to hurt me." She looked at me with those big blue eyes again. "Just like Murray never would do something to hurt you. Mistakes happen, and we blame ourselves, when really it was no one's fault. Unless, of course, you pulled the trigger," She said the last part with a smile. I started to cry again.

"I can't lose you again!"

"Bentley! I love you." She said it in a soft whisper, but my heart raced. It was the first time I had actually heard her say it to me. We moved closer then I ever though would think possible. Off came the glasses into a pile on the roof. I barely saw her, but my hands went everywhere—her hair, her back, her ears, and even her tail—not wanting to forget her. My fingers got caught in her hair, pulling off the bandanna that I hadn't seen in years. Metal clicks came as I un-did her overalls as she worked with the buttons on my shirt, tugging at them to come un-done. I moved away from her lips, to take a breath, and kissed her neck. She moaned, as I made my way to the front of her neck. As happy as I was, of course the moment wouldn't last, because the world truly hated me.

Over the binocucoms, was my voice. "Every one to the Safe house. We need to go over the plans for tomorrow." I backed off of Penelope, wanting her to stay. But I knew she had to go. She entwined her fingers in mine. "I love you so much. Please don't forget that. And it isn't your fault, no matter how much you think it is." We kissed, wet this time from our tears.

I took the straps on her overalls and put them back together. She tried fixing her hair, putting it under the bandanna, hoping no one would notice the messiness of it. "Dimitri, Sly, and Penelope. Any day now if you please." I looked at my invention, wanting to throw it into the ocean. She helped me into my chair, and immediately sat in my lap, nudging me with her head. I closed my eyes, nudging her back as she fixed the few un-done buttons on my shirt.

"So am I the last one left?"

"Yeah," I smiled down at her, remembering thet night…this night. "Also, _Fahrenheit 451 _is much better then _1984_, no matter what I say tonight." I smiled down at her. We both laughed.

"Penelope! Where are you?" Both of us sighed.

"I'll be right there Bentley." she said after getting up grabbing the binocucoms and pressing the button so they could hear her.

"Well hurry up. We're all waiting on you!" She went to pick up my time machine, handing to me. I grabbed her, and we kissed one last time.

She stood there as I pressed some buttons, getting me back to the right time. I looked at her, knowing I would never see her again. Another flash of yellow, and I back in my apartment, surrounded tools. I placed the machine on the table, and grabbed a hammer. I wouldn't mess with Fate anymore, but still...I missed her.

I sat there for hours. Not wanting to think about how she loved me. How she didn't want to be saved. How she though she could possibly hurt anyone.

I could still smell her. Feeling that she was part of me still. I took a deep breath in.

Life is full with so many what-if's. I want to think of them, but I stop myself every time, knowing it would just pull me in deeper. Into more what-if's, into more things that I can't fix.

I went to my computer, switching it on to look for my friends. I had to get back living my life. It just sucked that I would be without her, for the rest of my life. I knew I would never get over her. I knew I would never be able to be with any other person again. But I couldn't stop living life with her gone. After several minutes, it showed Sly in Paris and Murray in California. I looked around one last time, grabbed the CD and her book, and put them into a safe place. Taking one last smell of her, I went to get a shower.


	2. Please Don’t Leave Me

**Another what if...**

**A bit different this time, no one dies like last time.....I still cry at night for doing that to the two of them in the last what if....**

**Read...enjoy....I'm making this up as I go along, so I hope you enjoy....**

**_________________________________**

_I yawned, waiting for Sly to get back. All of us were waiting below the ship, as he went searching for Remy Lousteau treasure. The Guru and Panda King sat in a corner together, meditating. Dimitri kept pacing in front of me and Murray, worried about the treasure. Murray was doing reps with a 50 pound dumbbell while I was reading a book. Bentley was off by himself, helping Sly try to find the treasure by talking him through the clues. As I read, I couldn't help but look up at him and stare, my feelings trying to find a way out._

_After another 20 minutes, Sly voice came through our Binocucoms telling us he found the treasure.. _

"_Gran Pa-pa's treasure! Hold the beat, bro. I come to help you dig, dig?"_

"_We're all coming Sly...This is too cool!" Murray said as an excited little kid. We grabbed a bunch of shovels and picks, heading to over where Sly was._

_After about an hour of digging the treasure up, Sly said "Well, Dimitri, it's your loot. I think you should have the honor."_

"_I open with Joy. You Cooper gang is a tight groove....Van Gogh Bull's eye! The primo diving gear to accentuate my deep down diving style." Dimitri pulled out all kinds of diver stuff._

"_It's so intricate. Your grandfather was and artist. I've never seen such fine craftsmanship." I commented at looking at the diving gear. The only problem was that the gear had been in the treasure chest for awhile, and smelt horrible. It seemed I was the only one to notice the rank smell, and took a few steps back._

"_He had the juice, check it! The gear even matched my suit. I can dance, dive, and accessorize." Oh boy, the suit was going to Dimitri's head. Out of the corner of my eye, I was a blade come at me. I ducked, grabbing the hand of captain Lefwee, twisting his arm, taking the sword out of his hand. It was heavy, but I managed to hold it steady at his throat._

"_Lefwee!!" Bentley yelled, everyone else getting ready for a fight. His men started backing off, seeing their boss with his own sword at his neck._

"_Hmm...The Lassie is stronger then I thought. But are ye willing to kill me?" He jumped at me, and I countered by jumping back and giving him a kick to his stomach. Sly came next to him, pointing his family's cane at the scum. "The wrench is as strong as she is purdy."_

"_Leave her alone, Lefwee. Tell your men to back off." Sly said, standing in front of me now, protecting me. It was weird, not having my heart flutter when he was protecting me. I guess I really did fall for the geek._

"_And if I don't ye land lubber?"_

"_I say we thump this chump, Sly." Murray said, pounding his fist into the palm of his hand._

"_Not a bad idea, Murray. Now Lefwee, should we listen to my teammate's idea?"_

_He growled, staring at me. "Back to your post, men! I know when I have been beaten. I should have gone for yer crippled, instead." Quicker then I could barley see, Sly pounded the cane into the side of his head._

"_I would suggest leaving now, Lefwee. Without another word also." He stood up, specks of blood falling from the side of his head. He backed up, turned and ran as fast as he could. I stuck the sword into the sand. Sly looked down at me. _

*

"Where did you learn to do that?" Sly turned, asking Penelope. What she had done was amazing. I would have freaked out if a guy with a sword came out of nowhere behind me.

I smirked. "They tell you more than just how to fly planes in the Air Force."

"Are you sure your okay, Penelope?" I asked, worried about her. We weren't paying attention, and she could have gotten really hurt.

"I'm fine." She said in a small whisper, turning away from me.

*

_I turned away from Bentley, hoping he wouldn't see me blush._

"_We should get out of here, guys. Lefwee might come back." We all turned, leaving at Sly's words. A few days after that, Bentley finally came up with a plan that used all seven of us to open the Cooper vault. Meanwhile, I was confused about my feelings. I had spent this most amazing time with Bentley a few nights ago, getting the map from Lefwee's office. After talking it over with my sister, I confessed I was head over heels for him. I just didn't know how to say it. Anytime over our 5 hour discussion about what was better, _Fahrenheit 451 _or _1984_, I could have said it. He clearly like me, yet for some reason, I was too scared to say anything._

*

"Thanks again for helping us out Penelope. I hope to maybe work with you in the future." She held her duffle bag, ready to get on with whatever she was planning to do. I knew once we finished the vault job, she, along with the rest of the gang, would leave. I knew I would probably never see her again, yet I was still to scared to say my true feelings.

*

_Tell him!! Tell him!!, my mind kept yelling at me. "Sounds good Bentley. See you around." I shook his hand, and then got a bone-crushing hug from Murray. _

_I left the safehouse, shaking my head. I just left the most greatest guy in the world....because I was afraid to say three syllables. _

*

"Murray!!" I screamed into my ear com. He came running, back from the multiple guys he was fighting, and we flew off in the van. It had been three years since the Cooper Vault gig, and now here we were, together again. We flew into a curve.

"Bentley! What is going on!!"

"Rajan is after us. He got out of jail, and wants revenge on us and sly, along with all the new people in our gang. He has already gotten Sly and Carmelita. He is going after the rest of the gang. They bugged all my tech, so they followed me everywhere. The Guru is hidden, and no one knows where he is. Rajan would never go after Panda King. And with his sources, Dimitri warned me before completely disappearing."

"That leaves Penelope. Where is she?"

"I don't know Murray." I looked down, not able to use my usual connections to find her. "We need to follow them. Drive me to the nearest library so I can do some research."

"Why do you think I know where the library is?" I rolled my eyes, and we screeched into another curve.

*

"_How much for the part?"_

"_$10,000."_

"_That much? Think it is a little much?"_

"_I could lower it."_

"_I would love that."_

"_And I would love you to sleep with me."_

"_So, $10,000 then?" The man in the cowboy hat nodded regrettably. I sent the money into his account, grabbing the part for my bi-plane in my bag. As I walked out of the Casino where I met him to "have drinks", it was a down pour of rain. I leaned my head back, letting the rain hit my face. I always loved being caught in the rain. It cooled down the Las Vegas air in late July, making it so you could actually be outside for two minutes without dyeing from dehydration. I pulled a small towel from my bag, wiping away the useless make-up from my face. I headed for my hotel, happy to finally get rid of my disguise of shorty-shorts and a tight top. I fit in with the other woman here, and made sellers lower their price, but it was incredible uncomfortable. _

_It was dark, but I noticed three men following me. Instead of turning into my hotel, I entered a bar. Sitting at the counter, I ordered a beer, watching my three shadows enter into the bar. I made a beeline for the front door, not paying for the beer. I turned down an alley. The three looked armed with guns, and I just wasn't someone that could fight them. In the darkness, I slinked into the darkness, between a few trashcans._

_Moments passed, and the three entered the alley. "Find her."_

*

Using my grapple-cam, I got a clear picture of what was going on. Three men that me and Murray followed lead us right to Penelope, back in the states. I moved the camera into a better position, and none of the men noticed. Penelope looked horrified, but she kept her cool. I just hoped she would be okay until Murray got to her.

She kept incredibly still, watching the men pull out the guns, and start searching the alley. As if she was nothing, she slipped behind a dumpster as the men passed. The walked right past her, and would never had noticed her.

But as I moved the grapple cam again, it lost its grip on the wall, making it fall to the ground only yards away. As the men moved their guns to see what crashed, flashlights mounted on the top, they saw her behind the dumpster. They ran towards her, and she started sprinting, only to trip over my damn grapple cam. Not only had I lead her to her doom, when she tripped, it threw off the turret, so I couldn't shot sleep darts at them. But of course the camera could still work. I watched in horror as one picked her up by her neck, pressing her into a wall.

*

"_Let me go!!" I yelled, kicking at the man. I managed a blow into his stomach, but another rammed the butt of his gun into the side of my head. I fought to remain conscious, but it was hard with the lack of air and the immense heat of the desert, even if it had rained. My eyelids fluttered, and next thing I knew, the man let go of my neck, dropping me to the ground._

*

"Let her go!! The Murray commands it!!" The two men turned their guns out of range of the camera, I'm guessing to aim at Murray. I heard gunshots, and then the two men were thrown into a pile in range of the camera. The last let go of unconscious Penelope, and turned to Murray. But with one hit, he was knocked-out. He picked up Penelope, and headed back to our hotel room. I hit a few keys, making the broken grapple-cam self-destruct. I had programmed all my inventions to, after Penelope said she did for security reasons. It was a good idea.

They were both soaking wet as they entered. He placed her on one of the two beds, and I checked her over. Other then the blow to the head, she seemed fine. "She looks so weird."

"Not really. She is a master at disguises, but she is still the same Penelope that we know."

"She looks cold...."

"Yeah...lift her top half up." Murray did as he was told, and grabbing on of my long-sleeve, button-down shirts, I covered her in it. I was a skinny guy, but even the shirt was big on her, as if I were to wear one of Murray's shirts. Thankfully, Murray didn't ask if why I put my shirt on her, instead of covering her in a blanket."See if you can get into her room, and grab any of her RC stuff and clothes. I'm sure she will want them."

"Got it Bentley." He grabbed the key card to her room sticking out of her bag, he left. I looked at her. She seemed the same person I knew three years ago. The same person I was still madly in love with. I pulled of her hooker boots, smiling that she was probably looking forward to getting to her hotel room, taking them off, taking a long shower, and getting into a pair of overalls.

As I thought more and more about her, I realized she would never know if I were to give her a kiss right now. I bent my head down to hers, then shooting it right back up. "God, Bentley!! Get a hold of yourself. She doesn't even like you, for pete's sake." I wheeled myself away from her, into the corner of the room. Pulling out my blackberry, I started working on plans to try to free Inspector and Constable Cooper. Murray came back with a box of RC tech and her duffle, and fell instantly to sleep in the couch with the television on in the next room.

*

_I woke up, seeing I was in a hotel room. I bolted up trying to see what happen. It was dark in the room, but a white light being held by someone in the corner of the room. I checked myself, and I was wearing all of my clothes, minus a pair of uncomfortable boots, and plus a shirt....one I had seen some many times._

_A sneeze came from the corner with the light. I smiled. I had no clue how he found me, but I was glad._

*

"Bentley?" I looked up at the soft whisper. My heart raced, hearing her say it.

"Penelope, are you awake?"

"No, I'm talking in my sleep."

"Ha-ha. Now close your eyes, I'm going to turn on a light."

"Okay...they are closed." I flicked the switch, seeing her sitting on the bed, her legs hanging over, while her hands covering her eyes. And again, I had that feeling of just going up, grabbing her head, and pulling it in for a kiss. She started moving her hand, blinking a the bright lights.

"How are you feeling?" I asked, rolling over to the side of the bed.

"Fine, a little dizzy. I must say, I like my new outfit."

*

_He started blushing, turning down to look at his feet. "Well..umm....you looked cold...so I....and uhhh...Murray....sorry"_

"_Bentley!" He looked up. "You don't need to apologize. Thank you. It is really caring of you." And I love you so I want to be wearing this, and only this, as you lay on top of me, kissing me as you undo all the little buttons. Of course, the last part I would never say out loud. He blushed again. "So what is going on. How did you find me and those men?"_

"_Rajan. We had fought him when he was part of the KLAWW gang. He is mad, and wanted revenge on the Cooper Gang. Even though you weren't even though we weren't even there for it, he wanted to make you suffer since you became part of our Gang. He already has Sly and Carmelita. Me and Murray are here with you, and Dimitri, Panda King, and the Guru are just fine. We followed them to you, once we found out all of us were being followed." I nodded. It was a lot to take in._

"_How can I help?" I smiled, knowing maybe this time I will tell him how I feel. Hoping I would..._

*

"Really? You want to help?" I looked up excited. I wasn't sure if she would want to help me and Murray, or hide.

"Of course. Anyway I can." She smiled again.

"Well, Murray grabbed all your stuff from your room, so if you want to get changed or anything."

"Sounds good." She grabbed her duffle, heading for the bathroom. I couldn't help but look at the beautiful girl, wearing my shirt.

*

_As soon as I closed the bathroom door, I hugged myself, wrapping myself in his shirt. It smelled like him. Apples, a brand new book, and a red sharpie. I hated knowing I would need to give it back._

_After my shower, I changed into my usual overalls and yellow shirt, placing my bandanna on my head. I laced up my combat boots, and took out my glasses, replacing my contacts with them. I placed all my stuff back in the duffle, folding up the shirt._

_I snuckquietly back to the bedroom, hoping not to wake Murray. Bentley was tapping away on his blackberry. He looked up as I entered, and I handed him the shirt._

"_Thanks again."_

"_No problems." He seemed to blush. Please, just say something to him. Something. Please!! "Would you mind waking Murray?"_

"_Sure." I wanted to bang my head against a wall for awhile. Why I couldn't just say something, I had no clue._

_*_

She left, going to wake up Murray. As soon as the door closed separating the bedroom and the rest of the suite, I brought the shirt to my nose.

Motor oil, that new book smell, and strawberries.

She even had the most perfect smell. I heard Murray yelling, and probably giving poor Penelope a huge hug. I hurried to put the shirt in my bag, and they walked in, ready to hear what I had planned.

"Rajan had currently Inspector Fox and Constable Cooper in his jail. Right now, no one knows that Sly Cooper is Constable Cooper, including Rajan. He believes he just has Inspector Fox's dance partner from the dance. We need to make sure to get both of them out, before he does realize they are one and the same.

"The jail is in India, and is a very dangerous place. It will take a lot, and now it seems it will only be the three of us. We will need to take the first flight possible there, meaning no van, Murray. Once we get there, we will set up a base, and go from there." I looked up, and all three of them nodded. "Good, lets get packed."

*

"_That all, Penelope?" Murray asked, as I put the last of my tech I wouldn't be bringing in the van._

"_Yep. Most of this is just stuff I'm working on right now and I didn't want to leave it in my bi-plane or my apartment while I was here in Vegas." He nodded._

"_What kind of stuff?"_

"_Mostly upgraded motors and such. Nothing compared to what Bentley is doing, I'm sure."_

"_Does your stuff work?" I nodded. "Then it is better then his stuff. He has a half finished vault door and a non-operational time machine."_

"_Jeez, when he start on a time machine?"_

"_I dunno. He told me about it when we met up a few days ago."_

"_You two weren't together?"_

"_Nah, I was racing in the National Van Racing circuit for the past three years. We still talked and everything, but you can't talk about a time machine over the phone or in a restaurant."_

"_That makes sense." Then Bentley came rolling out. He was wearing a fake mustache and a cowboy hat. Murray was dressed as a buisnessman, and I had gotten stuck with a sari, traditional clothing for a woman in India, and I had also I dyed my hair black. _

"_You two ready?"_

"_Yep, buddy." We got into the van, driving to the airport. It took hours to reach Miami and then from there to India. It was uncomfortable in my outfit, people staring at both American airports. But once we got into India, the cowboy in the wheelchair was the one out of place. _

*

Once the plane landed in India, I leaded the way to the new safehouse, Penelope was behind me about 25 yards, while Murray at 6'7" could easily follow me at a larger distance was quite far away. I spoke to a man in Hindi, renting an apartment for the next week. I went in, followed by Penelope only minutes later. She was wearing a sari, and look beautiful in it. In the airport, she acted perfect, and it made me think she was a better Master of Disguise the Sly. I ripped off the mustache.

"You okay during the trip?"

"I was fine. Got a few stares back in the US, but once we got here, you were the one everyone looked at."

I raised a brow, pushing my glasses up farther on my nose. "Really? I didn't notice." She smiled. "What?" She turned quickly, waving her hand in front of her face.

*

_I could feel the blood rushing to my face. I couldn't help but laugh. He wasn't like everyone else, and he diffenently wasn't someone that cared what others thought. And would never bother dealing if they were looking at him or not. I envied him for not caring; I was too self-conscious with myself all the time, wonder what people thought about me and such._

"_What, Penelope?" He asked again, yet I didn't know what to say. Then Murray came in, holding all of our luggage. My huge duffle filled with RC tech, Bentley's bags filled with his computer, and gadgets, and Murray had his one carry-on size bag filled with his things._

"_For being the smallest two, you sure have enough crap." He said sourly. I smiled, glad he came barging in when he did. _

"_Thanks Murray." I grabbed my duffle heading to change out of the damn sari and wash the dye out of my hair._

*

I headed out, being the first to go near the secure jail. I was just to sneak around late into the night, and try to get into security feeds and find some codes for the place. Both of them seemed strongly against me going alone, but it was a better chance of not getting caught if only one of us went. Murray knew he rather have me then her out there, and he would have no clue how to do it. So, he finally agreed to let me go, making it a two-to-one vote.

After I set up all my computers, Penelope sat down, and was going to help me hack into the system from the safehouse. I rolled through the gates, watching for cameras and guards. I rolled a knock-out gas bomb to the security guards in the security booth, making them fall fast asleep. I rolled in, sending the links to Penelope. The two of us together made fast work. We had hacked into almost everything within 5 minutes.

"Looks like for the security codes, I need to head for another computer in the west wing. Does that sound right to you?"

"Yeah, Bentley. Maybe the one on the far right wall."

"That's what I was thinking. I'll head over there, and then head back to the safehouse."

"Be careful, buddy."

"Don't worry Murray. I'm doing fine."

"Then try to keep it that way." I smiled, hearing her worried about me. I tried not to groan as I thought it was more of a sister being worried for her older brother.

*

_I rechecked my findings, making dead sure it was the right computer. He was on the far east side of the building, and would need to get through a lot of guards to make it to the west wing. He made fast working, making past all the guards, putting only a few under with his sleep darts. With the security cameras now working for us, I was able to make him the invisible man, so Rajan would never know what hit him._

_He made it into the room, when I lost complete signal. "Bentley?"_

"_Yeah? Something wrong?"_

"_We lost all signals. It is like the computer rebooted itself. We have no security codes, no video, nothing."_

"_We can get back into it soon enough, just hang on. I'm at the other computer."_

"_Bentley, I don't like this. You should come back, now!"_

"_I will, just give me five minutes."_

"_BENTLEY!!" Murray boomed into his ear piece._

"_Shush. I'm almost done, Murray." We looked at each other. I started typing on the computer, trying to figure out what exactly happened, when the feed of Bentley came back on along with all our other work from the building._

"_The security feed came back online. I'm not sure how....BENTLEY LOOK OUT!!" _

_*_

I typed furiously on the computer. I didn't show it, but I was scared out of my mind. The security shouldn't have done that. Once I got through this computer, I would head back to the safehouse immediately. It was quiet awhile, and over the ear coms, I could hear her typing something, probably trying to find the files.

"The security feed came back online. I'm not sure how....BENTLEY LOOK OUT!!" My head shot up, just in time to see a foot clock me on the side of my face. It threw me out of my chair, and I slid halfway across the marble ground. I shook my head, sitting up. It was Rajan.

"Ahhhh...your Bentley correct? I was so sad to hear what happened with you and Clock-la." I growled at him, as he stepped closer. When I flew, my ear com fell out, and he picked up the small electronic device, putting it in his own ear. "Ahh, don't worry, my dear. I would never dream of hurting him. Just show up with no weapons along with your friend, Murray....Hello?" He chucked the deceive out of his ear. Guards poured into the room. "See if you can trace this and find them....OWWWW!!" He looked into his hand, a poof of smoke coming out of it.

"Damn, they self-destructed the thing. Take him away to the others. I'll deal with him later." The large idiots grabbed my by my arms, dragging me to the dungeons that served as jails.

*

"_PENELOPE!!"_

"_I know Murray. Calm down." I started typing quickly, getting the position of where they were taking Bentley before shutting off the system, making sure they couldn't track us here._

"_What are we going to do?? They have Inspector Fox, and Sly, and now Bentley!! How are we going to get them out??!!"_

"_Murray! Just calm down, okay. I'll...I'll think of something." Surprisingly, he did calm down, and started laughing. "Murray?"_

"_Sorry...it's just that I know you can do it, Penelope. I always lose it when I'm with Bentley and Sly is in trouble. I totally trust you to get them back."_

"_Umm...okay. Just give me sometime to think." He nodded, taking a seat on the couch, waiting for me to come up with something. I had maps and building layouts that the computer printed out before shutting down. We had no codes, but they could easily be gotten. The main problem was getting the three before Rajan could get to them and hurt them. Then I got an idea. _

"_Murray? Would you be okay with being a distraction? You would get to beat up a lot of people...."_

"_I'm in." He said with a grin._

"_Good. Now this is our plan. Your going to be a distraction in the front gates. A lot of guards will be coming at you, so be careful."_

"_No worries Penelope, I am The Murray. But what are you going to do?"_

"_With the distraction, I'm going to sneak in, and grab the three of them."_

"_Okay! Tonight?"_

"_Yes." I looked at my watch. It showed 3:44 AM. In about 20 hours, we would strike. "We should get some rest. You okay, Murray?"_

"_I told you, The Murray is fine." I smiled, hating myself for lying to him about what I was going to do. But he would never let me if I told him. And I couldn't think of any other ways to get all three of them out without them getting hurt."_

_*_

"So....long time no see."

"Shut up, Cooper. I'm in no mood for your sarcasm." I looked across the bars to see Sly and Inspector Fox alive and fine. For no apparent reason, I was put in a different cell as them.

"Thanks for coming. Your head feeling okay?"

"When the numbness goes away, I'll tell you." He reached his arm through the bars and across the walkway between us, trying to reach me. He was a two feet short from reaching my cell's bars.

"No use...to...short..." I rolled my eyes along with Inspector Fox. "So, the rescue attempt went well. Someone else is coming, right?"

"Yeah...Interpol when they find where their two officers are being held."

"Doesn't your team have like is awesome thief, Sly Cooper? And a muscle man, Murray? And that girl smarter then you?" I sighed. I was glad he was playing that he "wasn't Sly Cooper" for the cameras, but he was acting like a total idiot.

"Yeah, they are gone. They disappeared awhile ago."

"Really? Because due to the conversation I had earlier, both Murray and Penelope are in the city. And you would know where they are." We turned, looking at Rajan. "So, where are they?"

"I told you. They disappeared. They blew up the ear com and ran."

"Liar. You Cooper gang people are tight. You mess with one, and everyone else comes after you. Of course, Dimitri has no spine and wouldn't help. Panda King was protecting his family, so he couldn't help. And I couldn't manage to find Sly Cooper or your Guru, meaning you have no clue where they are, meaning they are dead. So that leaves Penelope and Murray, coming to rescue you after you three came when I attacked your little group to get revenge.

"Now, where are they?" He said with a cold stare, chilling my entire spine.

"I don't know." I stared back.

"Now, Bentley. Do you know why you are in a separate cell? It is so my men can easily get you with out having to beat up the cops. Do my men need to come in there and get you. If they do, nothing good will come out of it. I promise." He said the last words, an evil grin spreading through his face.

"I don't know where they are. I'm sorry."

"Oh, you will be sorry. MEN! Grab him and take him to a special room we have set up just for him." They undid the door, grabbing me. I struggled, but they managed to drag me out without any difficulties.

"Let him go! Take me instead!" Sly jumped up, grabbing the bars between his hands. His fiancee was beside him, looking just as ready to switch places with me.

Rajan looked at them. "Two cops are willing to take his place. How noble. To bad you don't have the information I need." he left, the guards dragging me behind him. I looked back at the two, dread covered both of their faces. I gulped, not knowing what to say.

*

"_Couldn't sleep?" I asked, Murray walking up the stairs into the room I was sitting in, reading. The apartment consisted of two floors. The top floor had a kitchen, dining room, bedroom, and full bath. Down below, like a basement, had a stairwell leading down to a rec room type deal with two extra twin beds. Bentley gave me the bedroom with the door on the top floor, while those two slept downstairs._

"_Nah. To scared."_

"_Imagine what Bentley feels like when you two would get caught all the time."_

"_He gets paranoid. Once me, Sly, and Carmelitegot captured, and for a week he was by himself with the van that he didn't know how to drive."_

"_He doesn't know how to drive." I said laughing._

"_Nah. He doesn't have a license, and I wasn't letting either Sly or Bentley drive my van. You know how to drive, right?"_

"_Of course. In my apartment, I have a motorcycle I us all the time and I fix up cars for my family when I'm not on a heist. Anything with wheels or wings, I can drive." We were quiet for awhile, and then he asked me something._

"_You look scared...."_

"_I am. I know you're an amazing fighter, but I'm still scared for you to fight all of them." I lied again. It wasn't a true lie, but that wasn't my main concern. He was a good fighter, and would take care of himself. But what if what I does gets someone hurt, or killed? What if it's Bentley?_

"_I told you, I'm The Murray! You have nothing to fear!" I smiled as he made a muscle. _

"_Come on, I'll make you something to eat." He agreed and we went into the kitchen. I grabbed sandwich fixings, and placed them on the table. Then a blinding pain came over me. I clutched the table, trying not to fall over. As soon as it came, it disappeared. _

_Murray was standing by me, holding me upright. "Penelope? Are you okay?"_

_I blinked a couple of times. "Yeah. I'm fine." I looked out the window, worry spread throughout my face._

_*_

"Well, Bentley?" I looked him in the face, and spat in it. He yelled, taking his whip, slamming it down on my back again. I screamed in pain, but refused to tell him where Penelope and Murray were. "You will tell soon enough! Take him down men!!" Guards surrounded me, pulling me off of the hook in the middle of the room I was hanging from. They had tied my wrist together, letting me hang a foot off the ground on the hook like a coat on a hat rack while he whipped my back over and over. I could feel the warm blood traveling down my back, soaking into the ripped shirt still covering me.

They tied me to a chair, where Rajan stood over top of me, wrapping bandages on his knuckles. "You know, I never admit that I had grown up on the streets. But, you already know this, so who cares. I learned some nasty ways to treat people. This will be like a tea party compared to the others." He threw off my glasses. "One thing I learned, men with glasses get shards into their eyes when you hit the hard enough. But, a big enough piece could fall out, and you could cut yourself free using it. Now we don't want that, do we?." He laughed as he said it, and threw his fist into my jaw. After a few more, the chair that was bolted to the ground fell over backwards. He stepped down on my chest. "Now, where are they?"

My head was cloudy, I couldn't concentrate, and I felt myself slipping into an unconscious state. But I still managed to tell him, "Go to hell." A foot to my face, and I was out completely.

*

"_Please be careful."_

"_You too, Penelope." We went our separate ways. He headed for the front gate, while I headed towards into the building. I heard yelling, and knew Murray was already starting. I jumped into the first floor, making sure to keep out of the camera's way. I memorized every spot so I knew where they were and weren't. I would be able to sneak in competely unnocticed._

_I headed for the dungeons, running into the man of the hour. He was alone, no guards. But what scared me was the blood on his hands. "Hmmm...you seemed to have come a little late. The crippled is already dead." My eyes grew huge, and he threw a punch, nailing me in the stomach. I saw the keys dangling from his pocket. My plan, was to fight him, and get the keys. The jails were built so you needed them, and no bomb would get the prisoner out, unless you wanted them blown up, and he had the only pair. Murray wouldn't be able to fight him plus all the guards. So why he had the guards, I would take him. He came after me, hatred burning in his eyes._

_I ducked his kick, knowing I wasn't going to let him win. I ducked another one of his punches, and kicked him backwards, sending stumbling a few feet. He clutched his stomach. Shaking the pain off. He charged, and I got him in a hit square in the face, ducking his own kick the process. While he was stupefied, I hit him again right in the face. He fell back to the wall, clenching a metal torch off the wall, swinging it at me. I ducked, jumped, and then ducked again before he got me on my side, sending me crashing to the ground._

"_Well, you put up a better fight then that other genius. But of course, he was tied up a little when I killed him." He kicked me in the stomach. Then again, and again. He kicked me once more, and I grabbed his foot, bringing him down to the ground. I got over top of him, punching him over and over to the chin, before he used his arms, pushing me off._

_We both shakily got to our feet, gasping for breath. He grabbed the torch again. I could only think of him....and why the hell he didn't keep any extra sleep darts or bombs at the safehouse. Rajan charged, yelling. I don't really remember what he was yelling in Hindi, all I know was I ducked, grabbing him by his collar, slamming him backwards onto the cold stone floor. He hit his head, and slowly was losing conscious. I pulled him up, slamming him against the wall. He was much taller then me, but I made him eye level with me, making his legs dragging on the ground. "Where is Bentley!" I hissed._

"_In his cell, alive. But not well." He grinned, and I gave him one last punch to the face. He feel over as I let him go. I grabbed the keys, running down the hall. _

_*_

We heard yelling, then a lot of fighting, some muffled talking, and then fighting again. I tried to remain sitting up, leaning again the metal bars. If I laid down, it cause to much blinding pain. My glasses, which were given back to me so "I could see the horror I was living" made my entire face hurt, pressing into the bruises covering it. But with my hands tied behind my back, I couldn't take them off.

"What do you think is going on?" Sly asked, trying to keep me awake.

"I don't know." I gasped.

"Just hold on, okay? That is probably Murray up there....okay?"

"Okay..." I started feeling my eyes flutter. It was getting harder to stay awake.

"Bentley, tell me about something. One of your new inventions...." I turned, looking at Inspector Fox.

"I haven't been doing to well in that department lately. Without Sly and Murray, I haven't had any crazy ideas to build. So you two...when?"

"We got engaged a few months ago ago. Ever since he told me about his fake amnesia, he asked me to marry him. Then he told me about you and Murray. You really had to put up a lot from this idiot."

"Yeah....but he's my brother that would have gotten killed without me." She laughed then stopped, hearing footsteps run towards us.

"HELLO!! ANYONE!! WE ARE IN HERE!!" Sly yelled at the top of his lungs. Carmelita started yelling in French, and an blonde angel showed up, running down the steps.

*

"_Penelope!? Hurry, we need to get out of here before Rajan comes back." I ran over to Sly and Inspector Fox, using the keys to get them out. I opened the door, turning to Bentley, hurrying to open his cell. _

"_Bentley? Can you hear me?" His face was covered in bruises and dried blood, and his back wasn't doing much better. I untied his wrists, allowing him to sit up better._

"_Yeah...how?" He mumbled. My stomach churned seeing him like this._

"_I'll explain later. Sly, can you carry him?"_

"_No problem." He lifted Bentley up, carrying him in his arms. I showed them the way out, where we met up with Murray, who was finished with all the guards. All five of us raced through the darkness, reaching the safehouse. Sly brought Bentley down stairs, placing him upright on a bed. "Stay awake for a little longer, okay Bentley."_

_He nodded, and Carmelita ran at my orders to get towels and the first aid kit from my duffle. Since no one knew first aid other then Bentley and myself, I tended to him. I sat with him, undoing the buttons on the front of his shirt, pulling it off. The front of his chest was fine, and it looked like Rajan didn't go anywhere near his legs. It left his back and his face._

_Carmelita returned, handing me the towels and first aid kit. Murray handed me one of his water bottles, while handling his own small scratches and bruises. I started clearing away the blood from his back. He tensed up, trying not to yelp. I felt horrible for putting him through this pain._

_*_

I sat there, just watching as she took off my shirt and started cleaning off my back. The water burned the deep impressions on my back from the whip. I wasn't looking forward to the disinfectant. "So, how did you get the keys, Penelope? The three of us hear fighting but there was no way you could have...." Sly said, trying to piece it together. "Did you use Bentley's sleep darts or something."

"No, because she didn't have any of them. They were all in my chair. Everything always is in my chair so one of you two idiots don't play with one while I'm gone." I said, looking at Sly and Murray across the room. I turned my head to the right as much as I could without major pain issuing through out my body, meeting her eyes as she cleaned my back up. "You fought him, since Murray distracted the guards." She blushed.

"Yes, I did."

"What! Penelope!! You said you were just going to go in and sneak them out!" Murray jumped up yelling.

"I learned kick boxing in the Air Force, along with first aid and how to fly. I knew you wouldn't believe me, and I couldn't come up with another plan to get the keys. And I couldn't blow open the cell doors, without you getting hurt. Making a copy of the key would take too long, and we had no sleep darts or bombs. It was the safest plan, Murray." She said quietly, not meeting anyone's eyes. We all stayed quiet, not sure how to react. "Hold on to something, Bentley. This might burn."

I closed my eyes, as she sprayed the disinfectant. I tried not to yell, but a small cry came from my mouth, tears coming from my eyes. "I'm sorry Bentley." her soft voice came from behind me.

"No...thank you for helping me." She started stitching up some of the indents, and placing bandages on both them and the welts along my back. I couldn't calm my stomach, feeling her fingers dance across my skin. The four of them were talking, but I barely paid attention. Then the next thing she did, I would have Rajan hurt me any day for her to do it again.

She grabbed an elastic bandage, and leaned up across my back, crossing her arms around my chest, rolling the bandage around my chest and back. She did it careful enough for me to feel her right behind me, but not so she would touch the wounds. I could smeel the strawberry shampoo she used in her hair. She got up, moving so we were face to face, and clipped the bandage in place. She removed my glasses, and everything went fuzzy.

But I could still feel her.....

*

_Butterflies were in my stomach, dying to get out. I just wanted to jump on top of him as I did the bandage around his torso. As I took of his glasses, I got the same feeling._

_In the background, Sly and Murray were pestering me about my injuries. Thankfully, he only got me in my torso, so they didn't know I had a few broken ribs, and only saw my bruised and bloody knuckles I wrapped up before treating Bentley. After I was done with Bentley, I would fix myself a bit better._

_I put a few stitched on his face, but only two here or three there. He was badly bruised and cut, but he would been fine in a few weeks. I placed his glasses back on._

"_Thank you." he smiled at me._

_Tell him please!!!!! "No problem. Anytime." Idiot!!!!_

"_Well, I'm hungry. What about you guys?" Sly said, seeing Bentley was fine now._

"_Sounds good." Carmelita said, Murray nodding beside her. The three started heading upstairs to the kitchen._

"_When do you think one will realize I can't get up there?" I laughed._

"_You might be here awhile. I'll go get one."_

"_Nah, don't bother. I really just want to sleep." I looked at him. He looked exhausted, but I knew I couldn't let him sleep._

"_Sorry, but you can't."_

*

I looked at her. "I don't think I have an concussion."

"Just to be sure, okay?" She said in the sweet voice of hers. I looked at her. She was wearing her overalls of course, and sitting on the edge of the bed, feet on the ground, looking right at me. Her bight blue eyes shined through her glasses. "Would you like another shirt to put on? It seems like it is getting cold." I nodded.

"Please, Penelope." She reached into my bag, pulling out the one underneath the one she had been wearing only days before. She helped me slid it on, and buttoned it from bottom to top. Her head only an inch or two away from mine. She sat back, before I could do anything about it.

"Why did he do this to you?" She said, pointing to the wounds.

"He wanted to know where you and Murray were. And I wasn't going to tell him. Not matter what. It was the only thing I could have done right this entire time." I turned away from her, looking at the wall.

"What do you mean the only thing? Do you think this entire thing was your fault?"

"Yes. My tech lead them right to Murray and me. My grapple cam fell in the alley, letting those three men know where you were. Panda King and Dimitri refused to help, since I wouldn't have been able to protect them and their family/girlfriends. I got kidnapped, and almost lead them to you two. Then I left no gadgets that could have helped you big time. This entire mission was a bust for me."

"What are you talking about? You were able to warn Murray and save me, and you brought us here to save your brother and the woman he loves. That was a perfect thing to do. You don't give yourself enough credit." I rolled my eyes, continuing looking at the wall. "And you made me fight. If it wasn't for you, Rajan would have killed me."

"What...that makes no sense." I looked at her, tears coming down her face.

"Without a cause to fight for, there is no reason to fight. You will just lose, simple as that. I fought him, wanting to kill him, because he said he killed the one I loved."

"He said he killed Sly?" I looked at her. Why Rajan would say he killed Sly made no sense.

"He said he killed the crippled." I looked at her, my heart stopped. "Ever since Blood Bath Bay, I realized that yes, Sly was cute, but you were so much more. And I just walked away, to scared to say anything. I don't want to do that again." Her voice got so low, it was a whisper, with tears falling from her eyes. I just stared, not believing her.

*

_He just, stared at me. Not moving, not saying anything. Just letting all I said sink in. He moved his hand to the side of my face, and I leaned my head into it. Taking his other hand, he removed my glasses, and I saw nothing. I was completely blind. His lips pressed against mine, sending sparks through my mouth. He had removed his glasses, placing them somewhere, leaving his hands free. They started in my hair, and on the back of my head and neck. I kept mine around his neck, knowing he was pain everywhere else. Then, he moved them down to my side, and I yelped in pain. It was muffled, being in his embrace, so the three upstairs didn't hear, but he knew I was hurt._

"_What happen? He hurt you didn't he?" _

"_Yeah. Just a few broken ribs though. I'm fine, it just surprised me when you touched my on my side."_

"_That was surprise? It sounded more like fierce pain."_

"_I'm fine." But he didn't listen. Next thing I knew, my glasses were on my face, and he grabbed the first aid kit from the side of the bed._

"_My turn. Unbuckle your overalls so they don't cover your chest." I did as I was told, trying not to yelp again as he moved his hand across the yellow shirt I was wearing underneath the overalls. He lifted up the shirt a little, and we saw the multi-colored bruises forming on my stomach. I winced when I saw them. He moved his hand under my shirt, making sure nothing other then ribs were broken. He grabbed an elastic bandage, wrapping me with it after making sure everything was fine other then my ribs. Any guy would have just torn off the girl's shirt, wrapping them. But he was different. He was delicate, putting the bandage on under the shirt, allowing me my privacy. _

_He finished, letting me buckle my overalls. "Thank you."_

"_Trust me..._thank you_." He pulled off my glasses, and he pulled me into another kiss, both of us being careful not to hurt the other. Both of us knowing, neither was going to be going anywhere anytime soon...._

Please, please don't leave me....

_*_

"**Has anyone seen Bentley and Penelope?" I asked, once we finished eating the entire kitchen.**

"**I'm sure they want to be by themselves for awhile, Sly." Carmelita stared at me.**

"**Why?" Me and Murray said together. She rolled her eyes.**

"**Do I really need to explain this to you, Cooper?"**

**I nodded. "Trust me, nothing is going on between them."**

"**You can't be serious. Did you see them earlier?"**

"**Yeah. I saw a robot that doesn't know how to love and a girl head over heels for me." I said smiling.**

"**Really? She loves you? She sure showed it in the jail. She barely noticed you other then to get you to grab Bentley." She said, smirking. I looked at Murray. **

"**Huh, she hasn't been drooling all over me, has she. I guess she finally figured me and Carmelite were together....forever." I turned looking at my lover.**

"**I think she stopped drooling over you in Blood Bath Bay." I turned to Murray.**

"**What? No way, she was still head over heels for me. I mean, why wouldn't she?" I said with a wink.**

"**I'm serious, buddy. I think she got over you years ago." I rolled my eyes and Carmelita giggled.**

"**Something funny, dear?"**

"**You think you are all that, yet you really aren't."**

"**I got you, didn't I?"**

"**Yeah, I settled for you." Both her and Murray laughed as I scowled. **

"**I still don't think those two are together."**

"**Yeah, I don't think Bentley will ever find someone, but if he does, I hope it's Penelope. I like her."**

"**Sorry Murray, but he's happy being a hermit. Fifty bucks says the two of them are on different sides of the room, seeing who can hack into the Interpol Database the fastest."**

"**Your kidding, right?" Carmelita said, her hands on her hips. "Those two clearly have a very intimate connection. And they could never hack into the database."**

"**Bentley did when we were 17 and looking for the Fiendish Five Folder." I said laughing. "And I'm telling you, nothing is between those two. I'll prove it." I stood up, and Murray followed me, and we started for the steps to go downstairs to prove Carmelita wrong.**

"**Will you two leave them alone." She hissed, following us so I could prove her wrong. Me and Murray got halfway down the steps before we both froze, mid-step. Our jaws dropped, seeing them. Bentley had his arms around her, and she the same....and they were kissing. We were to shocked to do anything, and Carmelita grabbed both me and Murray by our collars, pulling us upstairs. "Well?" She said with a smug grin.**

"**Dude, you were the one that has been with him! How did you not notice or know!!" I hissed, turning to Murray.**

"**I wasn't always with him!" He hissed back.**

"**What about the past few days. They were together, plus you!"**

"**They were always doing technical stuff. And I just sat there. I didn't see anything between them!! You're the guy that knows all about this kinda stuff!!"**

"**I can't believe he didn't tell us."**

"**I know."**

"**How long do you think they have been together?"**

"**Who knows."**

"**Well, it couldn't have been long, right? You said you picked her up in Vegas and she said she hadn't seen you two in years."**

"**She could have lied, buddy."**

"**Only one way to find out." I said smirking, and walked over to the stairwell again. **

"**Sly? What are you planning on doing?" Carmelita hissed, Murray trying not to laugh. He knew I was about to do something mean.**

**I smiled, yelling down. "Yo Bentley! Some girl named Caitlyn called. She says she your girlfriend. She sounds really hot! When did you two hook up?"**

**_____________________________________**

So cute, Bentley and Penelope together....it just warms my heart....sighhhh : ]

So I'll leave you to your own thought to what Penelope does when she hears Sly. I have some ideas, but it would have to make the rating higher due to worse violence and language....

How you enjoyed...I have another What If... Idea being thought of currently, so hopefully I type and share it with you guys.....


	3. It's the End of the World, and I Feel Fi

Hi...so for awhile now, I wanted to put _I'm Fine _with the _What If..._

I made some corrections due to grammar and stuff, and added a longer, action-ish ending (score!!)....

.....and last chapter goes along with "Please Don't Leave Me" by Pink....I write listening to loud music, and it always sounds better when you read it listening to the music...it just puts you in that mood the writer was in when they wrote it and what they think the story should sound like....

....the first chapter was "Second Chance" by Shinedown...(glad I tell you AFTER you read them...heehee)

.....And this one is written along R.E.M.'s "It's the End of the World As We Know It"

Now to the improved story....enjoy readers....

_______________________________

"**AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!**"All five of us yelled at once. We all soon realized our mistake, and moved away from the sleeping girl only feet away from us. We all held our breath as she tossed in her sleep, and we headed for the door as quietly as possible. We reached though the front door of the safehouse, and as it clicked shut, I went ballistic.

"I told you to be more careful!" I yelled angrily at them.

"Dude, he be the one that ran into the table!" Dimitri said, pointing to Panda King.

"I only did what I did to get out of the way from this buffoon running straight at me." He said, nodding his head towards Murray.

"That was only because Sly was chasing me!" He said, turning to glare at Sly.

"That was because you and Dimitri stole my cane!" Sly said sourly to both Murray and Dimitri back.

"It doesn't matter who did it. She is going to kill all of us." I hissed at all of them. They all stopped pointing fingers at each other. We all looked down at the broken pieces of the once great RC car. Even the flower looked broken, with the petals folded and crinkled and the steam bent at an odd angle. It had happened so fast:

I was working on the plans for the vault. I hadn't realized how early in the morning it was. I yawned, and looked over at the couch. She had fallen over in a deep sleep a few hours ago while working on her RC car, leaving it on the table, her tools beside her on the floor. I wheeled over to her, pushed the hair out of her face, and covered her more in a blanket. She moaned in her sleep, and opened her eyes slightly. "I'm sorry, Penn. Go back to sleep."

"Mhm. Night Bentley." She murmured before falling back to sleep. I bent down, kissing her on the cheek before heading to my room. I reached for the door as the early risers were just getting up. Panda King and Murray walked out of their bedrooms together. We had put the three spiritual ones together, while me and Sly were stuck with Dimitri. And of course, since usually our safe houses only had two bedrooms and she was the only girl, Penelope got stuck sleeping on the couch.

"Hey Bentley! Just going to bed?" Murray asked in his loud early morning voice.

"Yeah. Night bro." I said in more of a whisper, hoping he would get the hint and be a bit more quiet. That was when Dimitri came out quick, almost knocking me over in my chair, with Sly's cane. Both me and Murray stared him down.

"Don't sweat it bros. He stole me greasy sweat music, and now he is gonna hand it over, in exchange for this little staff." he laughed, and I was about to tell him off, that we were all thankful that loud, obscene music was gone. But Dimitri threw the cane to Murray, who was caught red-handed as Sly ran out of the bedroom.

"Give it back!!!" He yelled, still with a bed-head.

Of course, Murray played along, board with nothing to do so early in the morning. Him and Dimitri started tossing it back and forth. Having just woken up, Sly wasn't doing to good of a job trying to get it back. Panda King back up towards me and Penelope, trying not to get hit by the flying object. "Come on, guys. It is too early for this. Just stop and be careful!" I wanted them to stop, so she didn't get waken up again.

Then Sly got really pissed, and ran full force at Murray. Murray ran out of the way, barely missing both Sly and Panda King. Panda King took one step to far, stepping on the edge of the low table, sending the RC car into the wall, only then to be crushed by pounds of books that were also on the table that went flying. We all froze. I rolled myself over to the damage, and picked up the car, which immediately fell in to many, minuscule parts into my lap. That was when we screamed and ran outside.

"Bentley...please tell me you can fix it." Sly said, looking at me with these big eyes full of despair. I looked at the mess. Everything inside the little machine was new to me. That was why we got Penelope, her machine technology was way beyond mine and Murray's. Both of us together wouldn't be able to beat her making any machine, big or small.

I shook my head. "I can, but we would need to keep her asleep for weeks." they all groaned. Sly took off his shirt, handing it to me so I could wrap-up the remains of the little car, making sure I didn't lose any of the small pieces. That was when Murray started sobbing, clearly remembering the time the little car saved his life in China. We just stood there dumb-founded, and Dimitri was the first to speak.

"Well, it wasn't me who did it, man. Dimitri out!" He turned to leave, but Sly immediately grabbed him with his cane around the middle.

"If anything, you were the one that started this whole thing." Sly hissed as we all stared him down. Dimitri gulped and flew down to his hands and knees.

"Please, please, please. Save me from the wrath of the chicky!" He started begging, all of us rolled our eyes. We all stood quiet for a long time.

"It's the end of the world as we know it, isn't it?" Murray said, looking around at everyone. I looked at him and took a deep breath, not believing I was actually volunteering for this.

"I'll tell her. Just make sure you say out of her way." And with that, Dimitri and Panda king disappeared in a flash. I could not believe I was going to cover for those two idiots. That was when The Guru pop his head out the door and said a few words. "I don't blame you. You probably want to get as far away as possible. This won't be pretty." And with that, The guru disappeared.

I turned to my two brothers.

"As much as I want to stay, and make she doesn't kill you...." Sly started.

"Just go." I said rolling my eyes. It took a few moments before the two actually left.

I went inside, picking up any of the little parts that had fallen out of my lap as we raced outside, and placed them, still wrapped in the shirt, on my desk with the Copper Vault plans. Then I fixed the coffee table, and placed her book back on the table. Everything looked the same, except for the fact that her little car was nowhere to be found. I didn't do anything but sit at my desk, watching the rhythmic rising of the blanket when she breathed. Everything that had happened in my love life came running back to me.

Since I had meet Murray and Sly at the Orphanage, they would make constant fun of me, especially when it came to girls. They were this unknown territory to me. I never knew how to act or say in front of one. Of course I would make fun of Sly for being a horrible Master Thief, and Murray for being in love with a van, but deep down, I felt I would never meet anyone that would actually like me.

Then I meet Air_Heart_Babe online, and without even seeing each other, I had fallen in love. She was so smart and knowledgeable. The one person that would actually understand me when I talked. After sending her an exaggerated picture of myself, and her sending one of herself, I almost had a heart attack, thinking someone like that liked someone like me. When we actually meet her and found out we had lied a little on our profiles, she had of course fallen in love with Sly. It was the first time I wanted to kill someone, and it didn't scare me that I wanted to beat my brother's head in with a rock. During the whole ordeal, I stopped treating him like the best friend he was, and started treating him more like dirt.

We were on Lefwee's ship, when I told her that I loved her, and somehow she loved me too. I still haven't a clue how it happened, but it did and I was more then happy about it. Since then, we hadn't been apart. We would talk about everything and anything that popped into our heads. We wanted to know everything about each other. Our lives, our feelings, our thoughts. Sly and Murray had been making fun of me when ever I was with her, just like any best friends would. Even when they would tease me about the fact I hadn't gone past "1st base" with the girl that was clearly my soul mate. I would just ignore them, knowing she loved me.

And now, after a week and a half of being together, would she hate me? I was meaningless compared to the little RC car. This little RC car was given to her on her 10th birthday, 12 years ago, from her grandfather, whom she was very close to. She worked on the car, taking it apart and fixing it up, taking it where ever she went. It was how she got into fixing cars and bikes, and eventually into her flying planes, when she was only 14.

And in one little mess up, it was ruined.

I heard another low moan, and she started waking up. I started to panic, and my stomach started to churn. I was to shocked to move, and ended up looking ridicules, just sitting in the chair, staring at her. No books or maps in my hand. Just me staring at her, with a bundle on the desk next to me. It was no wonder why she looked confused when she turned and saw me. "Bentley? You ok?" She said in a soft voice, clearly still tired. She moved the blanket to the side, showing her yellow shirt, baggy overalls, and socks. Her gloves waited on top of her boots on the floor beside her.

"You sound tired. Maybe you should get more sleep." I replied after a long silence, trying to sound less worried then I felt.

"I'm fine. A bit stiff from falling asleep in my clothes, but fine. You look like you haven't slept at all." She stood up and walked over to me, feeling my forehead. She gave me one of her amazing smiles. That was when I lost it and broke down crying.

"Bentley! What is it?" She looked so worried for me. Would she hate me when I showed it to her? I couldn't say anything, and grabbed my right hand, and moved a part of Sly's shirt to show the mess. She turned chalk white. Her eyes grew huge. She didn't cry, yet. She was still in too much shock.

"It was an accident." Was all I could say. I waited for yelling and screaming. Maybe even a few punches. But none of it ever came. It would have made me feel better if she had. Instead, somehow, she made me feel worse then I already felt.

"It's fine." She said, looking at the car, refusing to look at me.

"Penn, I am..."

"It's fine." She cut me off, and started walking for the door.

"Penelope, please, wait!" Was all I could choke our through the tears. As she left, I heard her murmur something, most likely 'It's fine'. I couldn't move. My hands refused to move the wheels on my chair. That was when I broke down completely.

***********

I sat at the bar, which thankfully would serve me at 7 in the morning. Over the past few years in my life, I slowly just started to stay drunk or stoned all the time, instead of facing the hangover. Drinking my 4th shot of whiskey that day, I realized I was a douche and it was all my fault for what happen to her car. I knew I should have stayed, but I can't stand dealing with angry girls. They get pissed and punch you. Hard. Then I heard something that made my heart stop.

"Hey sweetie. What can I get you."

"One beer please."

"Any ID on you?"

The blonde at the end of the bar pulled out her license, and the bartender got her a drink. She looked on the verge of tears, her hair was a mess and she had no shoes on. And it was all my fault. I knew what I had to do though.

"Don't you think it is a bit early for a beer? And I though you were only like 17?" I said the last part in a low voice, making sure the bartender didn't hear. I wanted her to laugh or talk or something, but she looked like she need that beer.

"It's never to early for a beer. And I'm 22, Dimitri." She said shortly, clearly not wanting to talk. When her beer came, she chugged the entire thing in one gulp, and asked for another.

"So Bentley told you then?"

"Yeah."

"You ok? I mean it really was just an accident."

"I'm fine." For some reason, it seemed she had been saying that a lot lately.

"Well, at 7 AM with your hair a mess and with no shoes, you look like you had a great night." I said with a smile.

"What is with you?"

"What do you mean?" I smiled. She finally caught on.

"You sound....normal." She finally looked at me, confused.

"Sure babe, I can talk the talk and walk the funky walk. I am the greasiest sweetest thang alive. But really I am just some guy that only does it to be rich. You know when I was younger, I was a great artist, but no one like any of my painting. That's when I got hooked on drinks and weed and acted the part to be a party guy that forged painting for a life." I smiled at her.

"That's stupid. You seem like you hate it. Why would you do that?"

"I'm surprised you don't see eye to eye with me, Mr. Black Baron."

"I didn't hate being 'him', I just hate I couldn't be myself...." She collapsed on the table, clearly understanding where I came from.

"Now come on, let's get out of her. This clearly isn't our style." I literally had to pull her out, but once I got her outside, she seemed fine.

"I loved that car so much. And now, it is wrecked." She looked down at her feet, as we started our way back to the safe house.

"You love working on that car. Now you get to fix it up, put new designs on it, and make it even better. It's what you love to do right?" She looked upset, having to start all over again. I continued, "You even have that little boyfriend of yours to help out." She smiled a little at that.

"You actually sound really smart and insightful right now." She said, looking up at me with her big blue eyes. It was a wonder why Sly didn't like her. She was adorable.

"Don't worry. It won't last much longer. The whiskey is starting to work, and I'll be the same guy you all despise." We both laughed. "That like disaster really sobered me up. It kinda sucked."

"What actually happened? It looked like Bentley attached a bomb to the poor thing."

"Long story, but it wasn't in anyway his fault. The guy was covering for the rest of us that actually did something....."

As I told her the story, we walked around for a long time, just circling the safe house for the longest time. When we eventually walked into the safe house, Bentley was there, bent over the weird little parts, trying anything to fix it. When he looked up, his face looked as if he had been crying for days.

"Penn...I..I ammm...so so so so so so......." He started stuttering, looking from her to the car, and back. I felt so bad for the dude. He was a total wreak. She walked up to him, and as she did, his eyes got wider and wider, not sure of what was going to happen.

He really didn't expect what she did though.

She fell into his lap. She grabbed his head, pulling him in for a kiss, which is how they stayed for a long time. They looked so happy and peaceful. I walked into my room, rummaged through my bag, pulling out a bottle of some really hard whiskey.

I always knida wanted something like that. Some girl to like my real art, and not just "'cuz I am greasy sweet". I shrugged, taking a long drink. I wouldn't have minded if she liked me. She was probably really hot under all that mechanic stuff. I felt the alcohol starting to work, and passed out into my own dreamland.

*******************

While she was gone, I imagined her off trying to think of the best way to kill me. What I didn't expect was her to come and sit on my lap, holding me in for a kiss. I thought maybe it was a suffocation technique Dimitri told her about or something, but she kissed me far to passionately. She let me go unfortunately.

"You do realize I just broke the single most important thing to you, right?"

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to hurt you, my sweet buttercup." She said with a very Sly-ish smile.

"Now I'm lost."

"Dimitri told me everything, sugar bunny"

"The Dimitri that just walked in here with you?" She nodded. "The same one that was the first to try to run away when we broke the RC car?"

"Seems so, my sweet petal."

"Now I'm extremely confused. What is with you and the names?"

"I have no clue what you mean, sweet-ums." I raised a brow at her. "Long story. It in includes me getting someone to GET OFF HER ASS AND WRITE A SLY COOPER FIC, baby love."

"What? That last sentence didn't even sound like you. It sounded like some deranged teenage girl from New Jersey obsessed with us." I started laughing uncontrollably. It felt better then trying to fix the little car while having I cried out my eyes.

"Nothing. So will you help me rebuild it? I would love your ideas," she leaned into my ear, "my lover." My mind froze when she said that, scaring the living hell out of me. But....in a good way.

"I would love too." I said, after several minutes needing to learn how to move my mouth and make words come out. She giggled, and with her on my lap, we looked at the small, crushed machine. Unfortunately, she had to get up to grab her tools and another one of her RC cars to replace any pieces far beyond repair. We worked all day, as she showed me all the small parts and how they worked together. It had only seemed like a few minutes, but hours passed and Murray and his master walked in tentatively. They saw us two together, and each too a deep breath before apologizing and getting food. Panda King closely followed, and Sly right on his tail. They were glad Penelope wasn't too upset. She just smiled, saying it was no problem. If it happened again, she would kill all of us slowly and painfully, but she forgave us this time.

I was looking over the plans, seeing some modifications we could add, when she scooped up the outlines for her car, telling me to go to bed. I looked at my watch seeing, I had been up about 30 hours straight. I smirked, knowing is was barely tired. I wanted to help her finish her car.

"You should get sleep. Remember the Cooper Vault you used to try to break into?"

"I want to help you....please." I added with a smile. Everyone was busy watching television or whatever else.

"Please, Bentley?" She said, looking at me with those big blue eyes. I nodded, stealing a kiss from her first, and headed for my room. Looking back, I saw her yawn herself, rolling up her designs, taking them over to her duffle.

*****************

I grabbed my duffle, looking through-out it for the stuff I would need. We were at one of their safe houses in the Caribbean, close enough to get to Kaine Island with only a week of good sailing in our newly acquired boat. I headed for the kitchen, a small bag from my duffle under my shoulder. The guys wouldn't like what I was doing by myself, especially Bentley, even after what they saw what I did to Lefwee.

I had always stolen things. I was good at it, thus becoming a thief. It went from stealing my sister's Barbie dolls to stealing candy bars to stealing jewelry from Tiffany's. When I wanted, I could blend in very easily. So I wasn't the most brilliant fighter compared to the guys, but I stayed alive and wealthy due to my defensive strategy rather then an offensive one.

It was after mid-night, but the streets were full of people since it was a warm summer Friday night, and I made a quick stop at a restaurant's bathroom to change. I went from overalls, an yellow shirt, and combat boots into a pair of plain jean shorts, a black tang-top, and sneakers. I placed my hair into a ponytail, placing it through a dark green baseball cap with no words or symbols overtop of it. I stuffed them into the bottom of my small bag, keeping the tools I would need on top. I walked down the busy street, finding a closed electronic store. The sign in the front had the cliché "Sorry, We're Closed. Please return during business hours."

I walked past it, using my handheld to tell me where any cameras were. The alley seemed the best place to go, so I entered, taking my laptop out of my bag. It was dark, so no one on the road would see me use the laptop to gain security codes, and turn off alarms and cameras before entering.

I breathed in the electronics. This was my place, the thing that separated me from others. The thing that got me to be part of the Cooper Gang, and meeting him....

I shook my head, trying not to drool over Bentley in here. The windows were huge, and people in the street could see in, so I stayed low. I rummaged through the selves, looking for things to fix my poor little RC and make the modification Bentley had come up with. They were good, but I had no clue how I would ever be able to build them myself. He was an inventor, while I was just an engineer. He made things out of thin air, and I made them better. We were a pretty good team....

Again, I shook my head, demanding to stay focused. Grabbing the last of the stuff I would need and placing it in my bag, I strolled out of the store, locking it up again. Then someone jumped behind me. I spun, aiming my fist to hit the person in the face, when he caught my arm, throwing me back. I put down the bag, placing my hands up to fight the oncoming attacker. He moved in quick, but I was faster. With one of my fisticuff punches to his gut, I left leaving him gasping from breath in the alley. Under the coverage of the people, I removed the cap, placing it in my bag. I disappeared among the people, just in case they tried to follow.

After stealing a pretzel to clam my nerves, I started nibbling on it. That was when I was Murray, jumping up and down, as if he was looking for someone. It was an odd sight. He was a very tall black man, and it just looked odd seeing him that way. Sneaking closer, I heard him talking on his cell phone that Bentley made. It's like a binocucom, but much harder to use compared to the binocucom.

"I don't know....I told you, I don't know.....I just don't see her, pal.....I SAID I DON'T SEE HER, PAL!!" Murray shook his head, hanging up and putting the phone in his pocket. He was getting angry. Apparently my absence had been noticed, and he was getting pointed at and laughed at. He looked like he was going to try and hurt all of them.

I reached up on my tip-toes to tap his shoulder. He spun around, almost knocking me out if I hadn't ducked. As I straightened out, he eventually realized who I was. "PENELOPE!!" He grabbed me in a hug. "You gonna eat that?" He said, pointing to my barely eaten pretzel.

"All yours." I said handing it to him as he called back Bentley. We walked into the safehouse, and I was meet by glares from Bentley. I gulped, giving him a smile wave. He looked horribly angry.

"Did you have to do that?!? Just disappear?!? DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED I WAS!!!" I stumbled back a step, along with everyone else in the room. His face was red, looking as if he was going to kill.

"I'm sorry, I just...." Looking down at my feet, I was at a loss for words.

"Don't worry about it, my wondrous chicken wing." I looked up, seeing him laughing. Apparently no one had know about his plan along with me. We just all stared at the mastermind behind all of our plans, when Sly came through the window, holding his stomach.

He looked and Bentley, and then to me, Murray, the Guru, and Panda King. He shook his head then turned to look at me. "Remind me never to sneak up on you again, Penelope." He feel into the couch.

"Oh, Sly, I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" He nodded. We didn't look at each other. We, along with everyone else, stared at the man slowly turning a shade of blue from lack of air from laughing way to hard. He eventually stopped, wiping a few tears off his face, and then rolled through the front door with a smile plastered on his face. I looked up at Murray and Sly before chasing after him.

He was on the beach by the time I reached him. He was just watching the waves roll in, the moonlight shining off of it. "Bentley?"

"Yes?"

"What, no chicken wing?"

"Wondrous chicken wing."

"Oh, sorry.....have you gone crazy?" He started chuckling.

"You left and I got so scared. No one knew where you went, and I made them all go out and try to find you. Dimitri of course didn't pick up his phone from whatever club he was at, so he didn't help. But I was scared. I just knew you were going off to the nearest electronic store to steal from their inventory. If anything happened to you, I would have been my fault." I laid down into his lap, snuggling close to him. The wind off the water was bitter cold.

"If anything happened, it would have been my own fault. I knew what I was doing."

"I know. And then Sly, seeing how scared I was, decided to make sure you never did something stupid like that again. I told him not to, but he wanted to make sure I never went insane again."

"So he jumped behind me?"

"Yep. And he lost badly. Even with hacking into the cameras, and using my grapple cam, I couldn't find you after the skirmish. It just proved you have done brilliantly taking care of yourself before we came along." I blushed. "I must say, you look brilliant, too."

"Why thank you." I smiled at him as he played with a strand of my hair. His other arm was wrapped around me, and we watched the ocean for awhile. Everything seemed quiet and still, as if we were the only things that mattered. I could have sworn the waves stopped moving.

"I got it."

"Got what?" I said, looking up.

He smiled down at me, laughing again. But at least this time he sounded normal. "I know how to get into the vault." His eyes moved back and forth, thinking the plan over and over, making sure there were no flaws. "It's going to work." He said with a smile.

"Perfect." I said, as he moved my head up, tearing off my glasses. We were only milli-meters from each others lips.

"You know, I kinda miss the combat boots...."

"Deal with it, my lover." I felt him stall at those two words again. If felt like he couldn't believe someone was calling him that. That he had found someone that would whisper it to him, was just too unbelievable. I smiled, knowing special was mine.

"Of course, my wondrous chicken wing."


	4. High School Never Ends

**Freshman Orientation:**

**Class of 2013 Ed.**

Setting:

New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) Theater

August 31, 2009

(The lights dim, and the 225 scared students hush the gentle tones they were talking in. A spotlight shows on the stage, and two students walk under it. One, dressed in pure white, the other in pure black.)

1: Welcome one and all, to the beginning of the next amazing four years.

2: Or as all of you will call it, hell. (The one in the white glares at the one in the black.)

1: Ignore him. My name is James, and I will be your Senior advisor this year. If you see me in the hallways, please stop and talk to me. As I said, I am a senior and am in the Academy of Allied Health and Medical Sciences. (Looks around very excitedly at all of the new freshmen.)

2: I'm Timmy. If you ever get lost, please find me, and I will make compete sure to get you utterly lost. (said with an evil grin) I'm in the School of Culinary Arts as a Senior. Please make sure to meet all of my friends, and we will all help you. (said with another evil grin. One in the white slaps him on his head)

1: (turns to black, hissing) Why did they pick you to do this? Your scaring them!

2: (turns to face white) Dude, cool it. They're just Fucking Freshmen.

1: ...Fucking...Freshmen?

2: (turns to the crowd) Yes, now as my inferior doesn't know, there are four levels to high school. Fucking Freshmen, Stupid Sophomores, Just Juniors, and Supreme Seniors. Then of course, this school gets split up even more like....

1: (cuts him off) Ignore him, please. Now this school is split up into nine parts. School of Transportation Technology...

2: ...the hicks of the school

1: School of Culinary Arts...

2: ...the laziest people you will ever know

1: (starts getting agitated) School of Cosmetology...

2: ...the easiest, dumbest girls you will ever know

1: School of Construction Technology...

2: ....the ones that are all muscle, no brain

1: Academy of Performing Arts- Drama...

2: ...the shiest and most stoned people you will ever know

1: Academy of Performing Arts- Dance...

2: ...the most stuck-up people you will ever meet in all of our miserable lives

1: (steps on the foot of the one dressed in black, and black starts hopping around the stage holding his foot) Academy of Finance & Business Management, Academy of IT & Digital Communications, and Academy of Allied Health and Medical Sciences. (said hurriedly before the one in black can interrupt)

2: ...the nerds, the geeks, and the "oh-so-smart" preps who think they are the rulers of the school, and shit on everyone else. of the school. (Starts running around the stage, avoiding the wrath of the one in white. Talks to the crowd, while running) Now, as you noticed, the school is divided down the middle, the Academy students and the Career kids. Career students and Academy students do not mix. Never have and never will. Ones are focused to get a job after high school and focused on having the times of their lives right now. The others are paranoid, up-tight teens worrying about getting into an Ivy League Collage.

1: (stops chasing the one in black, returning to the freshmen) Which is something you should all strive to do. With good grades and scholarships, anyone is eligible.

2: Like I said, the academy students and the career students don't mix. (white gives black an evil eye)

1: They could, if you worked harder and didn't treat school like a joke....

2: Well you could loosen up, and live a little. Ever hear of alcohol?

1: Why, I would never dare drink such vile crud!

2: The Transportation students got some weed, want that? (The one in white glares at the one in black)

1: Your teaching these students bad habits. Stop it this moment. Are this is why only bad things happen when Academy and career teenagers mix. Your ruining everything for us.

2: Really? Name one time? (puts hand on his hips, clearly think he had him proved wrong)

1: 1997-1998, Benjamin Key and Penelope Manors.

2: (thinks back, remembering the two, and gets annoyed) Oh shit! Well, name another!

1: No need for cursing. (a cry is heard from the audience) You want to know about the two kids?

2: Yes! Finally, it's story time!!

1: Well, we really do need to talk to you about the teachers and dress code...

2: BOOOH!!! Get of the stage, prick! (tries to make it sound like on of the freshman said it by cupping his hands over his mouth)

1: FINE! (Glares at the one in black, and turns to the freshmen) It was this silly love story, between two Seniors years ago, one in the School of Transportation Technology, and the other in the Academy of IT & Digital Communications.

2: The girl was a Trans nerd, the guy a Computer geek.

1: (Ignoring the nicknames) The girl had just moved from New York to New Jersey. She had been top of her class for three years in the New York Institute of Technology, and NJIT was more then welcomed to have her. She was a brilliant woman, being only 14 as she entered her Senior year. Her twin, Paris Manors, was only a Freshman in the Academy of Dance at the same time.

2: Paris was hot, let me tell you.

1: (starts talking louder, trying not to have black interrupt him anymore) Penelope, was the only girl in the class, seeing most Construction and Transportation classes are full of guys. She fit in nicely, in her baggy jeans and flannel long-sleeve shirts. It was only the second day when the two would meet. At the end of his Junior year, he had ended in a car crash. He was driving in the middle of the night, when a drunk driver came out of nowhere, taking off the front half his car. It took three hours with the jaws of life to get him out of the wreckage.

2: It was horrible...people from Career classes even cried for the Academy student.

1: He was left paralyzed, and said he would be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. People felt bad for him, being ditched at an orphanage as an infant, and then never being able to walk again. His best friends....

2: Brother's really. They grew up in that orphanage together.

1: ...his brothers, Alfredo Cooper and Thomas Murphy

2: You call them Sly and The Murray.

1: Yes. They hated their names greatly, so everyone called them Sly, Bentley, and Murray...

2: Forget the "The" in The Murray once, he would uppercut you. Do it a second time, he would kick you in the groin. He was one hell of a guy. (smiles, thinking back to all the stories he had heard about The Murray)

1: Anyway, Sly was in Drama, Murray in Construction, and Bentley in I.T. It was one of the only good inter-personal exchanges between the Academy and Career population.

2: And so you drama and dance kids know, your considered outcasts. You don't get to be academy or career. Your not stupid enough for Career or smart enough for Academy.

1: Again, don't listen to him. He is clearly on drugs. On the second day, she was walking into the lunchroom, reading a book.

2: Dude, the book was like and inch from her nose. She was drowning in the damn thing.

1: Call me dude one more time. (says glaring at the one in black)

2: Yes Dr. Sir Dr. (salutes the one in white, who did aspire to become a doctor)

1: (groans) Anyhow, she was walking through the cafeteria, clearly not watching where she was going. People were made to around her since she wasn't paying attention. Then she turned a corner, getting her foot stuck in a wheel of a certain someone's wheelchair.

2: She did a complete 180, trying to grabbing something to steady her.

1: She fell, landing in the lap of the certain senior. She looked up at him, he looked down at her.

2: Boy meets girl. Girl meets boy. Everyone starts cheering, and the two blush. People are yelling "Fucking Freshman!" and "You get that, Bro!".

1: She gets up quickly, him helping her. They didn't say a word to each other, and she disappeared into the crowd, to embarrassed to even to apologize. She left in such a hurry, she forget her book, right in his lap. He starts reading it, trying to find a name to give it back. Instead, he finds notes she had made in the book, things she wanted to try out for her engine equipment. He was sucked into the book, reading all of her notes. He realized she was a genius, like himself. After lunch, he ignored his teachers, just reading the book. They clearly yelled at him.

2: Some teachers just don't get when two young adults are just finding love and can't pay attention on how to fix a computer.

1: For the rest of the day, he was yelled at to put the book down, but he just got creative on how to read it, until last period he literally had a friend hold up the book to his computer screen from behind him, so he could read the reflection. The book was in Latin, so no one other then him knew what it said. It was a Friday, and he didn't see the girl after school, so he kept the book, reading it over and over, falling deeply for this girl.

2: He lusted for this chick. He fantasized about how the girl was, her voice, her personality. As we all know, when ever we do that about someone we want, they end up being retarded when they don't seem how we pretend they would be.

1: Sly and Murray were overjoyed, knowing he had fallen for this girl. They had felt horrible, blaming the accident on themselves, no matter how much Bentley said it was all his fault. They were grounded, yet they wanted ice cream at one AM. So they bugged Bentley, until he finally gave up, and drove to the store in the orphanage's car.

2: When you need junk food, an orphanage full of vegetables was just not going to work.

1: He didn't even make it to the store when he got hit. So the two of them were determined to make it up to him, any way they could, and this would just be a start. Sly being Sly, already knew the number of all the eligible Freshmen, including Paris Manors. He found out that Paris and Penelope were sisters, so enlisted her help.

2: Greatest player of all time. He is my hero.

1: Paris agreed, and the three decided to set up Penelope and Bentley.

2: The plan included a sexy black dress, leaving Bentley at the school after hours and refusing to pick him up, a thunderstorm, and a jar of peanut butter.

1: Thankfully, they never got to do their outrageous plan. Monday morning, Bentley was in the cafeteria reading his new book, when Penelope saw him. She walked right up to him grabbing the book. She turned and then Bentley took her that her math problem on page 124 was wrong. She sat down, flipping through the book, proving the genius was wrong, and she was right. He was astounded.

2: The girl he lusted for, was even better then he had fantasized of.

1: The first bell rang, sending everyone to first period. They stayed, talking about the book in their little corner. It wasn't until fifth period, when they were found by some teachers that acted as lunch aids. Both were given a 3-6 detention that following afternoon. It was the beginning of the year, and no one had done anything wrong yet. They were together for three hours, with a teacher that fallen asleep as soon as she stepped into the class room.

2: He was in love. She was in love.

1: They set a date for that Friday night, to watch Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Next Generation.

2: FYI, if you're a guy taking a girl to a scary movie, make sure your not screaming your head off while she is pointing out how fake it looks.

1: Other then that, they were in love. Every minute they could they were together. They enjoyed the simple things in life. Her in his lap as they read a book together, a kiss in the rain....

2: (cuts white off)....arguing if there would be gravitational pull in the fifth dimension. Penelope was pro while Bentley was sure there would be no gravity.

1: (looks at black, and sighs and mutters "idiot".) Everyone thought they were the perfect couple. Well, except for one man. A senior in Penelope's Career class, Adam Lefwee.

2: Total jackass....

1: Will you please stop cursing? Anyway, he was mad. She deserved someone better, stronger. She didn't belong with the crippled, she belonged with him.

2: Total jackass.... (White glares at black) What, he deserves that name!

1: Anyhow, They had been going out for about a month. He walked her to her career class after lunch, and since the teacher rarely noticed anything, he stayed awhile, talking to her. Lefwee wasn't happy that this crippled would come to his class with his girl. He was an Academy student, and it was as simple as that.

2: Total ja....

1: (turns to black, sutting him off) STOP IT!! Finally, he left, leaving for his I.T. class, and Lefwee and his minions decided to follow. Bentley knew Lefwee hated him, but never realized how much. Lefwee started yelling at him, and finally punched him so hard, Bentley fell out of his chair. Now Bentley wasn't a fighter.

2: A complete wuss...

1: (white is just completely ignoring black now) His men gathered around, taking their turns kicking and punching the poor man. Finally, Lefwee grabbed Bentley by his neck. (grabs black by the throat, and starts talking wickedly.) **Your going to break-up with her, if you know what's good for you. **(lets go of black, who is slightly stunned at what just happened.) He lets go, and Bentley falls into a heap on the ground. He starts walking away with his men, and turns. **And, we aren't going to tell anyone, especially her, what went on between us, right? **Bentley could only nod. Then, covered in his own blood, laying on the ground, the bell rings.

2: People see him on the ground, and being true to the fact we live in a high school, drama filled world, rumors started flying.

1: It took only seconds for Murray and Sly to know about their brother. The raced to the nurses office, meeting up with Penelope on the way. He only shook his head when they asked "What happened?" or "Who did this?". He stayed true to that part of Lefwee's threat.

2: But, do you really think Bentley was just going to break it off with the girl of his dreams?

1: Weeks went by, and Lefwee got more and more impatient. He would do those stupid little things just eat at you, and make you want to kill him. Talk about her just so Bentley could only hear him. Throw small things at your back. Steal your gym shoes and put them in a different locker. The list went on and on.

2: All those damn things you can't do a fucking thing to stop it.

1: As much as his brothers and girlfriend asked, he refused to tell. He sunk into this depression-like state, feeling the weight of all that was going around him. School work, college, after-school job, his brothers, school drama, and Lefwee and his minions.

2: But when ever he saw her, everything just disappeared of his shoulders.

1: But it didn't last long. Murray was a career kid, and soon learned that Lefwee was responsible to what was the matter with one of his best buddies. He confronted him and his men. One of the guys actually thought he might be able to take on "The Murray".

2: He charged, and was on the wrong end of a swift kick to the head and was out cold for days.

1: The rest of them fled, leaving Murray and Lefwee together. After he called Bentley a crippled, Murray charged. Lefwee knew he would be beat if he fought hand to hand.

2: But what made you think this guy would fight fair?

1: As Murray came at him, he reached behind him, grabbing a metal pipe needed for a boat his class was working on. He held it, bring it down on the back of Murray's head. Lefwee had ducked the punch, so he was left unhurt. Any normal guy would have been down-and-out after a hit like that with a pipe.

2: But "The Murray" was no normal man, and he held a grudge to keep him fighting to the death.

1: Lefwee turned his back to Murray to find a teacher and talk his way out of it. Murray got up, and leapt on the back on Lefwee, bring him to the ground, He punch Lefwee over and over.

2: Then just as it was getting good, some of Lefwee's minions came back with a few hundred teachers. Even with all of them, it took a good ten minutes to finally stop the fight. It was amazing!

1: Murray was thrown in In-School-Suspension for the next week. Lefwee got of free, seeing their was no proof except that it was self-defense and he was one of the smartest men in the school giving him a little leverage. But word traveled, and Lefwee became a social outcast. Everyone hated him for something no one could prove.

2: It was total crap that he got let off.

1: Bentley heard what happened to his best friend. It wasn't like Murray had never been in ISS, but Bentley felt it was his fault for getting Murray stuck in there. He found Lefwee the next day and confronted him.

2: And if you don't think a crippled can beat the crap out of you, you are so dead wrong.

1: Lefwee, was still hurt from the previous fight, and Bentley took him easily. The fight was broken up by the Vice Principal, and Bentley explained what had happened over the past two months, since the start of the school year, to the VP. Lefwee was thrown in ISS with Murray, and Bentley was suspended for two weeks.

2: Which is still so unfair.

1: (Turns to black) He beat Lefwee into a pulp and got him sent to the hospital. Some action needed to be taken. (turns back to the freshmen) He spent his time in his room, grounded from any outside communication. He missed his friends, his school work, and most importantly, his girlfriend.

2: It was so sad. (fake sobs. White glares at him again, and black stops)

1: In the mean time, Penelope's mom found out what happened, and refused to let her daughter to see Bentley ever again. She felt he was a bad influence.

2: Damn whore...

1: (steps on black's foot.) It left Penelope heartbroken. And Paris wasn't going to let this stand. She met with Sly, and they made a plan for the young lovebirds. They got both Penelope and Bentley to sneak out of their homes, and met in the woods surrounding the town they lived in. They hadn't seen each other for days.

2: The lovers embraced.

1: It was early November, and a soft snow started to fall. They were alone, together forever. There had been so many obstacles in their way, but they had overcome them.

2: Then she gave him an ultimatum: Marry her or get lost. He proposed, and they agreed to runaway. Then Penelope faked her death, and Bentley was devastated and kills the man Penelope's mom arranged for Penelope to marry when he sees him at Penelope's family tomb and killed himself because he did not get the message it was just a "fake death". She wakes up, sees him dead, and kills herself. The end.

1: WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!!! THAT NEVER HAPPENED!!!

2: Ha-ha. I got you to curse! But seriously, doesn't this story sound like Romeo and Juliet, just a little? Bentley is Romeo, Penelope Juliet. Murray is Benvolio, and instead of being killed, he goes to ISS. And Lefwee in Tybalt, and he should have been killed, but he got put in ISS. Paris is that weird maid. Penelope's mom is the evil mom that arranges the wedding. Even the huge age difference between Bentley and Penelope is like Romeo and Juliet. I mean, come on!

1: You actually paid attention in English class Freshman year??

2: Why yes, yes I did. (seems very proud of himself.)

1: (shakes his head, and turns to the very confused crowd) One, the world is going to end. All of you take cover. Two, they were together in the woods, and decided to met in secret, and apply for the same collage in Maine. She got a degree in Engineering and he got one in I.T. They only got married only two years ago. And both are still alive and fine.

2: Ohhh...my bad. (black says sarcastically)

1: Now that we are done the story, we can go back to the important things like dress code and such.

2: BOOOH!!! Get of the stage, prick!

1: THAT'S IT. I CAN'T STAND YOU ANYMORE!! (jumps and lands onto of black and brings him to the ground. A muffled question can be heard from the audience. White gets off of black, allowing black to breath.) Well, that is a good question. Why can't we all just get along and not worry about who is an Academy student and who is a Career kid. The answer is simplicity itself. We don't worry about it. This idiot on the floor is actually my best friend. A horrible worker and could care less about you, but my best friend.

2: (Gets off the floor, rubbing the back of his head) We tell you all this stuff and show you how stupid it is that we treat people differently, just because that have a different goal then us. He wants to be a doctor, and I want to be a chief, and id doesn't mean we should hate each other.

1: Brilliantly put. Now, we really do need to get to the important things....

2: One, guys have to have pants that cover their underwear. Two, girls can only dress like a whore once a week. Three, we still have discrimination in this high school, just like every other high school.

1 and 2: Welcome to hell, Fucking Freshmen. Prepare to be the butt of every joke.

(laugh viciously, curtains close, leaving the Freshmen scared out of their minds.)

__________________________

Wahahahahaha!!! Stupid freshmen....

I hope you enjoyed...I really wanted to do something a bit different and when I was talking to Jammin Jabala, I decided to do a script. And yes, this story was completely based off of Romeo and Juliet along with the school I had been in for the past two years. I changed the name, FYI...

I am a "oh-so-smart" preps who think they are the rulers of the school, and shit on everyone else btw...

:D

And please check out my new one-shot, _How to Build a Time Machine_....


	5. Contigo

**hey peeps...so the next two chapters are already published stories....but i got tired of of so many one-shots all over the place about B/P, so i moved them into here...**

**anyhow...PLZ ENJOY!!!**

**Contigo- by Bacilos (spanish song...but really good)**

* * *

"Murray, I telling you, pizza is way better then tacos!"

"Trust me on this one, Sly. After having to sacrifice meat for a year while I was training, tacos are so much better." I just rolled my eyes, as me and my brother walked back to the current safe house. We were only miles away from Kaine Island, ready to go and fight for what belongs to the Cooper's at any moment. Once Bentley came up with a solid plan, of course…

"Sure, whatever you say big guy…" Seeing the elevators were full when we reached the hotel we were staying at, we used the stairs. Bored, we raced up them, trying to get to our door first. After about 10 minutes of pushing and shoving, I made it to the door knob first. I gave my signature grin to the loser, before placing in the key, opening the door of the room me, Murray, and Bentley shared.

Of course, the two love birds were on the couch. The mouse was fast asleep in the arms of the turtle, as they laid down. His hand was entangled in her hair, slowing brushing it out. Bentley looked up at us, grinning as we walked in. I didn't smiled back, and just seemed to glare and not move, until Murray pulled me by the scruff of my neck out into the hallway, letting the door close.

"Great, first I had to put up with Bentley trying to kill you in your sleep, not I have to deal with the vice versa…" Murray said warily.

"What are you talking about? I'm happy for him and Penelope!" As soon as it left my lips, I knew it was false happiness…

"That's not what your aura says…"

"Fine…I'm pissed at him! All he does is spend time with Penelope. He should be working on the plans! Then he can spend as many afternoons as he wants just snuggling!" I spited out. I was tired of him and his aura-crap…almost as much as those two "lovebirds"…

"Sly!" Murray called after as I stormed off. I turned the corner and started running. I heard the foot falls of Murray, knowing he was chasing after me. I headed of the stairwell and reached to open the door, just as someone else opened it….

_I was in a class room. The room was painted white, with desks lined up two by two through out the space. In the corner stood the teacher's over-sized desk, an ancient computer sitting on top. In the front of the class, a wooden podium stood, which I recognized immediately. I wasn't sure how many times I had fallen asleep when the teacher lectured behind it…_

_It was my old English III class, the one and only class I shared with Murray and Bentley Junior year. As soon as I realized this, the teacher, Mr. M—a serpent—appeared at the desk. Now, he was an odd teacher. For fun, he would ignore his students, so I wasn't sure if this was a dream or if Bentley had finally managed to time travel and put me here. He—Mr. M—was a brilliant man…but a jackass at the same time…_

_Immediately, the bell rang and over the next few minutes, students trickled in. Since I got no yelling or pointing from them, I was clearly invisible, and got to re-live high school English class. All sorts of animals came in, talking about whatever. A certain younger raccoon, hippo, and turtle were the last to come in, just as the late bell rang. Teenaged Murray and Bentley sat together at a pair of desk, and the younger me sat down in the usual seat by the girls of the class. As he talked to the girls, Murray turned about, talking to this guy about the football game after school and how bad coach wanted to win. Bentley sat there, absorbed in a book Mr. M had mentioned to him once. He always did this in high school, not talk…just listen._

_The serpent got up, and moved to his podium in the front of the class. Immediately, the class was quiet. "Today, we will be reading an essay called Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson in your textbooks."_

_A few smart asses in the back snickered calling out "Waldo…Where's Waldo?"_

_A few of the teacher's pets in the front asked in Spanish "¿Qué número de página?" snickering when he looked at them odd._

"_I think they asked what page in Spanish, sir." Murray said as Mr. M just continued to stare at them._

_Without a look of acknowledgment, he said bluntly "şase sute patruzeci şi cinci."_

_One of the teacher's pets got mad. "But Mr. M, we don't know what that means!" she said with a whine._

"_It's Romanian….go look it up." He said with a smirk. Already, Bentley—knower of all languages, yet specks little—was on the right page, and people just copied him until the whole room was filled with the page 645._

"_Now, this piece is about being you, being a nonconformist, being misunderstood. You have to relay on yourself, because people will sometimes let you down. Mr. Cooper, you consider yourself the social butterfly, correct?"_

_I had remembered this day. I had been talking to the girls around be, and hadn't been listening to him talk. Now, actually hearing him, I started to laugh myself._

"_Huh?" The younger raccoon said dumbly. Everyone was snickering, if they had been listening to Mr. M or not. Mostly, it was the latter._

"_You are a social butterfly, correct?"_

"_Yeah, I guess…" _

"_So you like hanging out with friends?"_

"_Yeah…" He said unsure, clearly confused and knowing he was probably walking into a trap. Mr. M nodded, turning to Bentley._

"_Mr. Key, you like hanging out with your imaginary friends, correct?" Instantly, the room was filled with laughter. The green turtle turned a bright red, slowly sinking into his shell. People who hated Bentley for one reason or another were laughing their heads off. People who were friends with him cursed Mr. M out while trying to hold back snickers….but were quickly failing. Murray, adding to everything, picked up his desk, sliding it away from Bentley, as he turned blue from lack of air for laughing too much. I couldn't help but snicker as the younger me almost fell to the ground from laughing. Bentley, still trying to disappear, hit Murray as he moved the desk farther away._

_The class calmed down, tears still falling from the eyes of the haters of the turtle…and from his brothers of course. Murray moved the desk back with his pal, and Mr. M went on with his lecture, talking about the story. It was interesting, seeing how I never listened in his class much. But this time, I found it overwhelming, and truly captivating. _

"_Now, who feels that they have been betrayed or hurt by someone?" Everyone's hands rose, except for the one that had his face only inches from the book, absorbing everyone word. Mr. M turned to him, and with a wicked voice he said, "So, only Mr. Key then…"_

_At the sound of his name, he lifted his head, and looked at the teacher. "What?"_

_With a smile, "Have you ever been betrayed by a friend, or even family member, before?" Bentley only nodded, and Mr. M went on with his lecture. I moved over to Bentley, not knowing the countless times in the near future that I, his best friend, would let him down. _Even getting mad at him when, well, something good finally happened for him…

_The class went on, but with no more jokes at Bentley's expense. The bell rang, and everyone packed up, Murray and his friend racing to the locker rooms to get ready for the game. The younger raccoon left with all the girls and last, but certainly not least, the turtle packed his bag and started to leave. Mr. M called him back over to his desk. As far as those two knew, they were the only ones in the room._

"_So, are you trying to win the award for the most emo kid in the school?" Mr. M said with a sly smirk. Right then and there, I just wanted to hit him._

_With a slight grin, he shook he's head. "Just the most misunderstood…"_

"_So you liked the reading then…think those imaginary friends will like it?"_

"_Nah…they just like getting drunk in the woods." I smiled myself, knowing other then me and Murray, he had always liked adults better then his peers. Apparently, we were "too loud and never stopped to listen..." or something like that…_

_He was kinda always the outcast, talking yet no one could understand him. Doing things that no one ever understood. Sure he had friends, brothers, but no one that truly got him…_

"Sly? Buddy?"

_Well…expect for one person…_

"Come on…wake up already!"

…_.a mouse really…._

"SLY!!!!!!!!" I bolted up, colliding foreheads with Bentley. I clenched my forehead, opening my eyes to see where I was. I was on my bed, Bentley in his chair next to me, still holding his temple. Murray was beside me, smiling and a little out of breath from yelling so much into my ear.

"Well…that hurt…" Bentley moaned. Just then, Penelope came in with an ice bucket. Her blonde hair was still out of its braid, flowing down to her waist.

She raised a brow, "I guess I should have gotten more ice…" She said with a smile. Bentley returned the smile, and he instantly forgot about the pain…

And just seeing them do that…seeing him with someone he belonged with, knowing he deserved her…made me smile.

"Bent…odd question, but do you remember that thing written by Ralph Waldo Emerson?"

"Heehee…Where's Waldo…" Murray chuckled, as both the geniuses rolled their eyes.

"Of course…'Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Accept the place divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the correction of events'." Bentley said, remembering a small part.

"'A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. He may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall. Speak what you think now in hard words, and to-morrow speak what to-morrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said to-day. — 'Ah, so you shall be sure to be misunderstood.' — Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood'. It was always one of my favorites…" Penelope said blushing as me and Murray looked at her dumbstruck.

"Perfect…and beautiful…" Bentley said with a grin, making Penelope blush even more. I rubbed my head, and stood up.

"Well, at least you two can be misunderstood together…" I said with a grin as I walked to the door, which Murray followed. The two geniuses just looked at each other, not sure how to respond.

"Okay, now I'm confused." He said as soon as the door shut.

"They love each other…we will eventually get to Kaine Island with an amazing plan, especially with Penelope helping him out." Murray just looked at me.

"So whenever I want you to grow up, I just have to make sure someone hits you with a door and knock you out?"

I rubbed my head. "That's what happened? Damn that hurt…"

_____________

So…my English teacher was being a total jackass today, so I didn't need imagination for the flashback…jerk…

Oh, and this story gets dedicated to my new Bentley lover **RandomFanxD** who wrote an awesome B/P story today, that all of u should go review :D

Also, cuz there wasn't enough of it in the story…

_____________

"Well, at least you two can be misunderstood together…" Sly said as he got off the bed and walked out, Murray right behind him. I looked at Penelope, who looked at me.

"I have no clue…" I said with a smile, and she giggled.

"All I know was that I woke up with Murray screaming that Sly was going to die…and that I was to get ice."

"That is true…" I said with a smirk, as I grabbed her around her waist, making her fall into my lap. "Guess you should head back to sleep, my sweet princess…"

"I guess so…" She said, leaning up closer against my shell, where she fell asleep almost immediately. My hand found her face, which felt like silk compared to my rough hands…

"'_At least you two can be misunderstood together…'_ what the hell was he mean by that…" I pondered, really ticked off.


	6. Dr Who

**All i can say is...DR. WHO NEW THEME SONG!!!**

* * *

_September 2, 2003_

_Man can go up against gravitation in a balloon, and why should he not hope that ultimately he may be able to stop or accelerate his drift along the Time-Dimension, or even turn about and travel the other way._

_~H.G. WELLS, _The Time Machine

**vcvcvcvcv**

H. G. Wells inspired many people to build a time machine after he wrote about it in 1895. Over the past century, many have tried, yet failed. Most people would rebut the fact will we never build one, seeing no one from the future has come here yet. Others say it isn't right, and we could change life as we know it for the worst; that everything happen for a reason, and we can not change what has been destined to happen. That the means justify the end.

But when have I ever not done something because it was "unfeasible", "impractical", and "hazardous"?

So far, it had been an entire year since the Cooper Vault heist and I had been working on a Vortex Distortion Space and Time Dilating Device. Or as anyone other then Penelope and myself would call it, a time machine. So far, all I had after six months of straight working was a bunch of useless papers, numerous thesis's, and an old pocket watch that was gutted and preliminary designs inside that refused to work.

I placed down the screwdriver and tore off my glasses, rubbing my temples. It was hard enough trying to come up with something, and the extreme heat wasn't helping. After Penelope and I finished rebuilding the vault as best we could, we decided to lay low. The only place I could think of that both me and her don't have outstanding warrants for our arrest was Mexico. I wasn't thinking that the middle of summer in a desert would be a bad idea. Lucky for me, in my chair I had always had this AC system, that connected to the armrest and the back of the chair, cooling down my body allowing me to wear jeans all year around.

Not so lucky for Penelope, the apartment we were living in had no AC, and all of the residents were sweating to death. I know I should have been more sympathetic, but with the heat wave, she was forced into a pair of jean shorts and a yellow camisole. She looked brilliant, in something other then baggy overalls, which of course I didn't mind her wearing. It was just…well, she looked amazing when she showed her figure.

I let go of my head, and placed my glasses back on the ridge of my nose. I placed my elbow on the table and my head on my hand, looking at her. She was reading, though it looked like her mind was wondering. She laid cross legged on the couch, bare-foot in her new outfit. Even her hair wasn't in its usual low pony-tail and bandanna, but in a bun, with her bangs pulled behind her ear. The bandanna was long forgotten along with the overalls and long-sleeve shirt.

I looked back down at my plans, filled with red X's and lines, before giving up and rolling away from the table I was working on. I made my way over to the couch. "What are you thinking about?"

She looked startled, as she looked up from the page she had been gazing at for the past 10 minutes. "A newer design for my RC helicopter and car. What if I were to make glasses I could see through rather then a screen on a remote control or my laptop?"

"A good idea though that might be problematic if your by yourself and someone comes up behind you." She smiled.

"That was the problem I came up with, so unless if you want to constantly be protecting me..."

"Yes!" I said with a laugh. Using my arms, I lifted myself on to the couch next to my laughing girlfriend. The heat immediately stuck me, in my jeans and long-sleeve shirt. I grimaced.

She snickered. "Nice face. The heat a little unbearable, sweetheart?"

I gasped through the hot, sticky air. "Maybe just a little." She moved over, and un-did the buttons on my shirt. As her head was bent down while doing it, a few strands of her bangs fell from behind her ear. I raised my hand, pushing the few rouge strands back. She giggled, as she un-did the last button, and I slid the shirt off. I tugged at my undershirt, pulling it off, placing it on my chair along with my shirt. She started backing away, but I pulled at her arm, and she fell into me.

"It is way to hot for this." She said, as I grabbed tighter around her middle.

"Is not, my dear." She rolled her eyes, before making herself comfortable in my arms. I was never sure why, but I always got my best ideas when just sitting with her. She would end up falling asleep, leaving me alone with my thoughts. And as if our brains turned to one, my inventions came to life with her engineering techniques.

Right on cue, she started dozing off. I lifted off her glasses, and she muttered a thank you before completely fell into a deep sleep caused by the heat. My head fell to the side, and I started falling asleep myself. I yawned, placing my head on hers and fell in to an equally deep sleep as my partner.

***********

"Bentley!" I looked up. It was Sly on a high dive. "Come on! Don't be such wuss!" I looked around, and I was sitting on a towel, surrounded by people in bath suits surrounding a huge oval shaped pool.

"Sly! I can't!" I yelled up, and he shook his head.

"Murray! Drag him up here!" He yelled down, and Murray ran over from the gaggle of girls he was talking too. He pulled at my arm.

"Come on, Buddy!" He pulled at my arm, but I kept shaking my head.

"I can't!" I looked down at my legs, hoping he would get the hint. But he just kept pulling.

"Come on! Nothing bad will happen!" He kept pulling at my arm. Usually whenever he did this, I would go fly, but I stayed on the towel I was sitting on. Then a pair on small hands reach under my arms pulling me up. I was standing, and then I remembered it was all a dream with Clock-La and him breaking my legs.

"Jeez. I need to get more sleep." I said shaking my head.

"Sleep later, sweetheart. Let's go!" I turned to my side, seeing the body the small hands belonged to. Small, blonde, and a smile to melt hearts. Dressed in one of Dimitri's more fashionable swimwear, she looked radiant in her yellow bikini.

"Yeah!! I'm gonna do like a million cannonballs!" Murray yelled excitedly, as we followed him up the ladder to where Sly was waiting. All four of us stood at the top. The pool looked like a small glass of water from all the way up here. "I'm first!!!" Murray ran off the side, using his ball form to make a huge splash in the water.

"NO FAIR! I WAS HERE FIRST!!" Sly yelled following him down doing a jackhammer.

"After you, my dear?" I said, bowing to her. She giggled.

"And some say chivalry is dead." She jumped, ending up in a small ball like Murray. She landed perfectly along with Sly and Murray. They started cheering, waiting for me to jump. I ran, bouncing off at the last millisecond. I flew into the air. As I flew downward, I saw everyone. Panda King and Dimitri, in his green and purple monstrosity, were over by the snack stand, Panda King eating while Dimitri "strutted his stuff". Carmelita had jumped in the deep-end, to join the other three in the pool And sitting up in a tree outside the pool area, The Guru was meditating. It was as if I was spiraling downward in slow motion. Everything moved so slow. It hadn't seemed like such a high jump, but it was taking forever to reach the water.

I feel faster and faster, gaining momentum from the gravitational pull. Then it was as I was sucked into The Matrix, and everything around me turned black with those green numbers and letters. I didn't mind it, and then as I fell, I found a hole. I reached for it, grabbing the hole somehow, and landed in a pile of snow.

***********

I jumped awake, scaring Penelope. It was dark, and she tuned on the lamp beside us. She pulled on her glasses, she was talking, maybe yelling, but I didn't hear anything. Slowly everything started coming back. Penelope was terrified, yelling my name, trying to get me to talk.

"Bentley! What happen?" Her blue eyes poured into me. I could feel myself drenched in sweat.

"I...I don't know, for sure. I'm sorry." I started, and she immediately calmed down some.

"Christ Bentley…you really scared me." She said, moving over on the couch, crossing her arms. "What were you dreaming about? You seemed pretty freaked out about it."

I closed my eyes, placing my hand on my forehead. What was I dreaming about? I searched every part of my sub-conscious, try to find even a small part about it. "Something...something about a loophole...." Then I swear a light bulb appeared over my head. "A LOOPHOLE!!!!" I screamed, and she flew backwards a little in surprise.

"Ummm...what?" She asked timidly.

I grabbed her on her shoulders. "A time machine is just a loophole. Something to get you from point A to point B in seconds. It is just a teleportation device going throughout the fourth dimension!"

"Uhh...I guess. Yes, Bentley" She said timidly again. I know I was smiling wildly. Her eyes were had a dead stare on me, try to figure out what was going on. I pulled her into a kiss, our glasses clinking together, before getting into my chair and rolling over to the table and worked. She sat there stunned for awhile, before getting up and turning on another light so I could see better. She sat back down on the couch, just watching me work hurriedly on the project at hand.

I wasn't sure how long I worked, but next thing I knew, it was sunny out and the pocket watch looked much different now. The insides were filled with all sorts of gears and gizmos. I was hoping my idea would work. This idea had given me a new lust for the project. I hadn't felt this way about it since I first started it. Lately, it had become a chore, but no more. I had all my hopes up for this, praying it would work. I didn't want to fall into the depression my non-operation inventions gave me.

Throughout the time I was working, I had slipped on my undershirt and other shirt. I even made an attempted to eat some leftovers Penelope had heated up for me. It took a few days until the entire project was finished. I barely had slept, yet I was wide-awake. I took a deep breath, and looked over at Penelope. She had fallen asleep on the couch. She had been watching me the entire time, making sure I didn't go completely crazy.

She had to put up with a lot from me lately, so I let her sleep as I finally finished. I looked at it in my hands, and wound up the machine. I started thinking about something I would want to see, or find out, that only I would want to know. I wound it up, setting in 51 32 N 0 5 W, 2-2-1980, 1:30. Next thing I knew, I was sucked into this hole. I couldn't move, I couldn't breath, and then I landed in a snow bank.

It was freezing. That was when I realized my mistake. I was going from the middle of a hot Mexico day to the middle of a cold London night. I looked up, seeing someone had fallen over, probably in surprise from me landing right next to them in the middle of the night. I saw his face, and a I groaned. "Of course! The damn thing doesn't work! What are you doing out here, Sly?"

"Uh, me?" Sly said, staring at me, as if he didn't know me.

"Oh sorry. I meant 'Constable' Cooper." I said sarcastically. I wasn't in the mood. I was cold, depressed, and apparently my chair didn't come with me leaving me stranded. Sly started laughing.

"You must be the brains, huh?" He said laughing.

"What are you taking about? Just help me out of this!" I struggled, and he came over, reaching his arm to grab me out of the bank, and onto the path he was walking on. In the other arm, it looked as if he was holding something. We both sat on the ground. "What's with the bundle, buddy?"

"Nothing. So I'm Sly right?"

"Now you're starting to scare me."

"You scared me first."

"Okay. So I messed up an invention. Not the first time I did." he started laughing again.

"You really think I'm Sly, don't you?" I looked at him confused, nodding. "My name is Conner Cooper. And Sly is currently only a few months old, and sleeping in his crib at home only just inside the city."

"I....I...really made it to 1980? It is February 2, 1980 in London England?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I mean it just turned to be February 2 an hour or two ago, but yes."

"And you're...Conner Cooper? Master Thief?

He nodded. "And you must be the brains of the operations in the future. A time machine is pretty awesome invention." It was my turn to nod. "So what made you come here?"

"I...uhhh...was looking for my parents."

"Your parents?"

I nodded. "I was dropped off an orphanage tonight, and I wanted to know who they were." I said, with a guilty look on my face.

"Oh..." I looked at the man confused. He was just like Sly, and I knew when Sly was hiding something from me.

"What?"

"It is...nothing." I glared at the man, and he undid his jacket, taking out a bundle of blankets with a baby face barely visible. "I was on a gig with my two other comrades a few weeks ago, when this man Muggshot came out, shooting at us for stealing some of his money in the casinos. His aim was terrible and hit a bunch of pedestrians." Anger was building up inside of me. I knew what was happening.

"He hit my parents. You're an honest Thief, and when you saw me and my dead parents, you grabbed me, feeling remorse. You couldn't find any remaining relatives of mine and felt I wasn't safe with you, so I ended up here...." Conner nodded. Memories of being 18, and fighting him in Mesa city came into my head. Then again when I was 22, and we saw him in Holland. Even Penelope had been hurt by this monster. Under that yellow camisole, laid a scar of a bullet wound he had shot at the Black Baron when s/he had beat him her rookie year in the Aces when she was only 15.

"I'm sorry. I never meant for any of this to happen." Conner said quietly.

"You should get him to the steps soon. He looks cold."

He nodded again. "Are you sure you're okay? I mean, I don't need to leave him, you, on the steps of the orphanage. And you, yourself, don't look too good, either."

"No, I'm…I'm fine," I lied. "And yes you do. That is how it happened."

Conner stood up. "Can you tell me what his name is? I never found out."

"I dunno. I was given a name when I got there; Benjamin Key."

"Ohhh...well good luck. I hope to see you soon." He said with a smile.

"I will. Don't worry." I said with another started dashing away again, and I pulled out my pocket watch. I flicked the safety switch, sending me back to where I just came. Back to where I belonged. I had landed in my chair, scaring Penelope again.

"Where did you go? You were gone!" I just sat there quietly, placing the pocket watch back on the table. She pulled out her hand, placing it on my forehead. "You're freezing and covered in snow. What happen, Bent?"

"I went back in time." I said sullenly.

"This is a good thing, right?" She said puzzled.

"I guess. I went back to see if I could see my parents. I meet Conner Cooper instead." She gave me another puzzled look. "Him, Jimmy, and Dr. M were on a gig when they meet up with Muggshot. Actually, I'm going to see for myself." I took out my laptop, leaving her more confused then she had been. After searching, I found the plenitude and latitude, date , and time of what Conner was talking about. "Hold on tight, okay?" I said, reaching out my arm. She nodded, grabbing firmly on my forearm. And we went into the vacuum of space and time, ending in Mesa City. We landed near a coffee house, café tables outside. Once again, I was without my chair, and she helped me into a chair.

"What is going on?" I looked at her, tears forming in her eyes.

"Sly's dad and his gang are going to rip off Muggshot. He is going to find them, and start shooting at them, hitting a bunch of people." I said, glancing over the scene on the road. It would only be another minute or two, right at sunset.

"Are you thinking clearly? We have no tools, and he is going to be shooting at us?" She hissed. I really wasn't thinking clearly. But then I heard gunshots.

"GET BACK HERE YOU SCUM!!" A much younger Muggshot came out, both of his guns blazing. He started shooting at the man running away from him, Conner Cooper. I grabbed Penelope, throwing us onto the ground. I wasn't going to let her get hurt because of my own stupidness. I saw another one, Dr. M pass by, and then Muggshot came booming into my sights again. And I saw them. A man, tall with black hair and brown eyes, and a woman, shorter, with brown hair and eyes. They were lanky, the man dressed in jeans and a shirt, while the woman was in a sundress. She was pushing a carriage when he shot. The man jumped in front of her, but both were hit, and they dropped to the ground. Conner had disappeared, and after Muggshot kept going, he stepped out of the shadows, checking the couple, although it was already too late.

My throat was sore, and it hurt to breath. I felt tears come down my face, as he picked up the child, and ran into the car Jimmy had waiting. I fumbled with the pocket watch, sending us back from Missouri to Mexico. I landed in my chair perfectly again, Penelope next to me. Next thing I knew, I was on the floor, Penelope holding me, my face was covered in tears.

…he had looked just like me...

**vcvcvcvcv**

It had been only a year and a half since Inspector Fox sent him to prison last time in Holland, but he was already out. He had escaped by the help of his friends, and decided to lay low for awhile. I wasn't sure what I was going to do to him, but I knew I was going after him. As much as I didn't want her to be part of it, Penelope said she was coming, or she was going to call Murray, who would get the entire gang together. They were getting on with their lives, and didn't need to be pulled into something I was immediately going to forget once I was through with Muggshot.

With my help on Thiefnet, it was easy to find him. He was hiding out in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He came up with his own little mob to dominate the city. We donned on our disguises, and got the first plane out of the hot hell hole. And once we landed in New Jersey, I realized it was even hotter here then in Mexico. Back in Mexico, it was a dry heat. Here in New Jersey, there was this unbelievable humidity, making everything 30 degrees hotter and much stickier. We set up a safehouse and started recon. He seemed to have started up his own casino, the Sunset Snake Eyes. Penelope went in undercover, getting me all the information and blueprints I would need. This operation would be in our favor, since both of us lacked a good physical standpoint, and no one would expect for a crippled and a small woman to attack.

He was up to no good, and Penelope quickly found out we weren't the only ones in the city. Interpol had been following who they thought was Muggshot, but they had zero proof. Over by the roulette table, an undercover Inspector Fox and Constable Cooper played, trying to find evidence. Yet another thing in our favor. It widened my options of what I was going to do to him.

After reading blueprints and making plans, I found a way in. Muggshot stayed in disguise or hidden at all times. The best way to attack would when he is downstairs with his men, instead of on the floor with all the vacationers. Penelope would sneak in, and open one of the service entrances to allow me in. We would then make our way to hack into the main system, by using the main computer in the basement. We would then have control of everything, and grab any evidence we find incriminating Muggshot. After taking out all the guards with sleep darts, Muggshot would be sure to show up.

Every time I got to that part in my plan, I stopped. This man was a killer, ruining lives of countless people, and he didn't care. He didn't deserve to live. But I wasn't a killer.

"You know, I feel that the best way for people to realize their mistakes, is to think about it long and hard. After escaping twice from prison, he will be locked up in an airtight box with guards surrounding him for the rest of his life. He would only be so lucky to have you point a gun at him." I turned, looking at Penelope. She looked exhausted and devastated. I knew I didn't look much better.

"I guess. I just don't know..." I let my head fall into a heap on my arms, which rested on top of the plans on the table. Grabbing a seat besides me, she started rubbing my back.

"Every thing will turn out okay. What ever you decide, is what he deserves."

I lifted my head, looking up at her. "You're not mad at him? You should want him gone, just like me."

She moved her hand front my back to the side of my face. "I am furious with him. He has hurt so many people I care about. But one bullet shot out of fury doesn't make me want to hurt him. And, him hurting you…well, it just makes me want to make sure he doesn't get out of this the easy way" I lifted my head up, and grabbed her, pulling her into my chair. Sitting there with me made me realize how tired I was. I hadn't gotten much sleep the past two weeks, due to the time machine and this. We had a few hours before the gig, and I let myself fall fast asleep.

**vcvcvcvcv**

"You! You're that broken-down runt from the Cooper Gang! Whatcha doing here, ruining my business!"

"Business? It's more like a rat hole." I said, glaring at the man of the hour. We stood in the middle of his office, where all the intimidating documents were held. I had already broken into the safe, and Penelope held onto all of the papers.

"Hmmm....getting smart with me again, four-eyes? At least you brought the girl, so I can take care of both of you for messing with me." He pulled out his gun, and I pulled out mine, tranquilizing him before he could pull the trigger. It hit him in his big neck, sending the drug through out his body. Any normal person would have fallen over, but he was no normal man. He started falling over, I sent three more into his chest, but not before he pulled the trigger on one of his guns.

The shots fired at the person he despised most. The teenager that had defeated him for years at his own game. The teenager that showed him up. The teenager that made him the most idiotic thief for years, having jokes made just to make fun of him. And the jokes just worsened when they found out she was just a small girl.

She ducked behind the desk, papers in hand, and he fell over, unconscious. I glared at him, dismissing all thought of what I should do to him right now. "Penelope? You okay?" Nothing.

I rolled over to the side of the desk, she was on the ground, her yellow shirt covered in blood. "Penelope!" She opened her eyes, clutching her stomach. Do to the blotches on her abdomen, it looked like she was shot twice.

"Bentley..." She murmured. I picked her up, and she sat in the fetal position, clenching her stomach. I had to get her out of here. I rolled us out as quickly as possible; trying to remember the exit strategy I had come up with. Her breathing was very shallow, and I had to get her somewhere fast.

********

_It had been five months since the Cooper Vault Heist. Me and Penelope worked our hardest, coming up with a new vault, better hidden on a nearby island about 100 miles from Kaine island. We had gathered up all of the artifacts we could find, and flew them to the new vault. Right now, we were in California, thinking of where to lay low for awhile. "What about Iceland?"_

"_I'm wanted there. I need a part for my bi-plane, and it was a little expensive for my 14-year-old funds, so I stole it. How about Italy?"_

"_Way to close to Paris. And I'm wanted in almost every European country anyway. And you were fourteen when you started stealing?"_

_She gave a very Sly-ish smile. "Oh no. I would __never __steal anything."_

"_Sorry, it just seems a little young."_

"_I have been flying in ACES since I was 15."_

"_Point taken. What about New York City?"_

"_My family lives there, all 213 of them." I started coughing, choking on a noodle. Penelope was currently "traveling the world for her job", so we wouldn't be able to move there where her family might see us. But I was amazed there were so many._

"_Oh jeez. Ummm...then I'm out of ideas."_

"_Me too." We looked down at our half finished Chinese, deciding to pack it up and put it in the small refrigerator in the hotel room. It was late in the afternoon, the sun just starting to set. I made my way to the king-sized bed, and rolled onto it. It was very comfortable. "Well, you look quite relaxed."_

"_I am, thank you." I said with my eyes closed. "You should come join me." She made her way over, moving next to me. I grabbed her with my arm, and we just laid there. "Penelope?"_

"_Hmm?" She said sleepily._

"_I love you."_

"_Really. I never knew, sweetheart." She said with a smile. I kissed the top of her head, and she moved her face into mine, her body on top of mine. It was a random movement of hands, until I had her overalls undone, the straps resting at her waist, and my hands resting under her shirt on her lower back. She lifted herself from my lips, removing the useless piece of yellow cloth. My hands flew across her body, when they felt something on her right shoulder. She stopped, and I made a grab for my glasses. It was a bullet wound, right between her shoulder and right breast. She backed up, so she was sitting on top of my legs. I used my arms, moving myself to meet her, our faces inches apart. My hand softly touched the scar._

"_How?"_

_She looked at me guiltily, as if she had done something wrong. "I had just turned 15, when I went into the ACES for the first year as the Black Baron. I was a rookie, but me and my team won. In the semi-finals, we went against Team Iceland and Team Muggshot, before you guys carted him off to jail the first time. As we landed after I defeated him, he shot at me, and it went through my costume, into my shoulder. No one could tend to me, since I feared the consequences. So I took off in a fury, and tried stitching it up myself. I clearly didn't do so well, and it left a major scar." I lifted my hand, moving to her upper back, were the bullet had entered._

"_Why would you go back?" I asked, looking into her eyes._

"_I loved it. The next two times nothing happened, and then when I was 18, you and your team showed up. I was good, and one small thing wasn't going to stop me. I had tricked my entire family, and I wasn't going to stop because of what one guy did in resentment." We were quiet for a moment, not sure what to say or do._

"_Good. But this means you can't yell at me for what my legs look like." She smiled, and I put a light kiss on the scar, before pulling her down onto the covers, and tearing of my glasses again._

**********

I moved as fast as I could, using my jets to fly away from this place. _Get her to safety_. Unfortunately, my luck was out completely, and I heard footsteps down the hall. And voices belonging to Constable Cooper and Inspector Fox.

"We are heading to his office now. All the guards seem unconscious. I'm thinking this is work from the Cooper Gang." Carmelita's voice rang out. I was stuck, nowhere to hide. They turned the corner, almost running into me. Their eyes grew wide, as they looked at us. They turned off their walkies. It was clear Sly had told her what really happened at Kaine Island.

"Bentley! What happen?" Sly yelled, kneeling by me, looking at Penelope. She gave a low moan, making everyone ease a little.

"Constable Cooper. Help this citizen out, and get her outside proto."

"Yes Inspector." He replied. I let him take Penelope. He quickly did a once over, taking off her glasses and bag with her RC gadgets, handing them to me. Then he ran off, holding her.

"Interpol isn't covering the back yet. You should be able to get out safely. She will be taken to the local hospital."

"He is in his office, unconscious. On the floor surrounding him are papers proving who he is and what he has done." She nodded, and we both took off. Back in the safehouse, I changed, placing fake casts on my legs, and making my way to the hospital. I was greeted by Sly, who told me my girlfriend was in surgery. He did a perfect job not acting worried or as if he knew me. Me on the other hand, was going crazy.

He lead me to a private room, where Penelope would be put once the surgery was over. "Okay, Pal. Now tell me what is going on. Why were you two in there by yourselves?"

I broke down, telling him the entire story through my sobs. He stayed quiet the entire time, even when I told how I meet up with his dad. As I finished, I looked down, seeing my knuckles had turned white from gripping the armrest. I let go, and they immediately started shaking.

"Now that was probably the stupidest thing to do and the worst plan ever."

"He wasn't supposed to show up in the office. He just wasn't."

"You were so obsessed with this, you didn't think straight. You always have back-up plans."

"I know...." I refused to make eye-contact with him.

"How long have you been like this? You don't seem healthy." I brushed off his question.

"I'm fine. I just need Penelope to be okay." I hissed at him. It seemed he was going to talk again, when we heard a knock at the door. He jumped up, and talked to a doctor in the hallway. He walked back in, dread on his face. I knew what had happened. And it was all my fault.

"Bentley....I..." He started, tears streaming down his face.

"Don't bother, Sly." Pulled out my latest invention, and entered the correct numbers.

"Bentley. What are you going to do?" He said through his sobs.

For once, I wasn't the one crying. I was in to much dismay for it. "I'm changing this." And I was gone, leaving him to fall on the floor, and roll into the fetal position. It would be only minutes before they took the deceased into the room, and Inspector Fox to pick Sly up off the ground.

**vcvcvcvcv**

19 26 N 99 7 W, 8-12-2003, 13:23

I made sure I picked a time where she would be asleep, and I could yell at him....myself. He was bent over in his work, and Penelope was fast asleep in the early afternoon. Alive. He was working on the machine, after his "great epiphany". He didn't even realize I was there.

"Mind paying attention?" He jumped, and looked around, seeing me...him...on the ground.

"It...it works!!" He yelled excitedly. I shushed him, pointing to the sleep girl on the couch. He lowered his voice. "How...when?" equally as excited as before.

"Don't. Just stop it now. You don't want to mess with time."

"What? Why?" He said confused.

"Trust me, okay. It is a very bad idea."

"Prove it." He said with a smirk, thinking he was going to win this argument.

"Penelope will be killed because of you and that damn invention." I hissed, and he looked shocked.

"R..re...really?" He stuttered, trying not to believe me. I mean, how could one invention cause that? He had been careful, making sure no one would get hurt.

"Yes. Now please, listen to me. Just give up. Please." I begged. He nodded. "Thank you." and I was off, sucked into the vacuum once again, for the last time. One week into the future. I landed in my chair, at the same time I had been in the hospital looking at Sly falling to pieces.

But this time, we were still in the dry heat of Mexico, eating pizza.

"You okay? Still depressed about not being able to make the non-operational time machine, operational?"

I smiled at her. Memories of her being shot roamed my head, but also of me waking her up as I threw the pocket watch into a metal garbage can, saying I would never get the damn thing to work. One week of pure dread and terror in Atlantic City, and one that was slightly depressing and fun just being in Mexico. It was odd how it worked, but I didn't mind it. I just continued eating, looking at her smiling as she spoke.

**vcvcvcvcv**

_Time Travel is a dangerous thing and H. G. Wells proved that in his book. Yet all of us still try to invent the unfeasible, the impractical, and the hazardous. We would all love to go back, and see memories we had long forgotten. Or see what the future holds for us. Yet maybe that mystery is best for all of us. The answers always seem more hazardous then not knowing. So many what if's cloud our minds, and they make us what to change everything. But it seems everything happens for a reason, and it will work out for the best. _

_So to all future Master Thieves part of the Cooper Family who read this, keep in mind, that time is never to be messed with. Sure you may think, it won't end up like it did with me. That you could do much better...well, you can't. H.G. Wells warned us all, and I warn you now. _

_God help anyone who feels that they can beat it._

_Bentley Cooper_


	7. There She Is

The world of one of our favorite video games is filled with all sorts of animals…but shouldn't they only be with the species that they are? Sure different breeds of dog can date and marry, but how could a turtle and mouse ever be together? It is just wrong…

Song: _Think Twice_ by Eve 6

* * *

_**I thought that, if the world won't change, we would never reach happiness achieve happiness but she…**_

Somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, lays the remains of a future three thousand years old. All of it belongs to the Cooper Clan, a group of master thieves, each and everyone mastering their own techniques and ways around to the law. Even to become Cooper was different for everyone: While some spent years in training under a great thief or you just happened to be best friends and roommates with a great thief.

The latter happened for the turtle that sat at a desk inside Kaine Island. For the past six months, he and his love rebuilt Kaine Island, finding and restoring all the treasures they could, and building a better fortress for the years of history and stolen goods. With the construction almost complete, he went over his plans with a red sharpie to make sure nothing would go wrong. He paused with the sharpie end on his lips, his eyes shooting back and forth a crossed the blueprints. With a nod, he capped the marker, and backed away from the desk, the blueprints free of comments and X's. Moving his chair through the complex labyrinth of gold mountains within the new vault, he found the beginning of it where a small mouse was bent over with a blowtorch.

"How are you doing, Penelope?" The turtle asked as the mouse turned off the tool.

"Almost done, sweetheart." She answered as she took off her mask, noticing the green turtle blushing a little at the cheeks.

"That's great! Seems we have done everything in our power to protect the place we almost destroyed a half year ago…"

"Technically, that was Dr. M…" She answered with a smirk. The white mouse came closer to the green turtle and he grabbed her hand, looking lovingly into her eyes. _How I ever got someone like her, I'll never know,_ he thought.

"So, after we finish up here in the next few days, where would you want to go?"

"Hmmm…I have never been to New York before. Or what about London? I loved that city when I went there." The young mouse said with a smile. The turtle couldn't help but laugh at the over-eager mouse.

"London sounds swell. I don't think you will like the Concert Jungle too much though."

"Perfect." She said as she leaned down to give him a kiss.

*************

It had been awhile since being with civilians in the daylight for both animals, and both were glad to finally be apart of it….for a short while that is.

It was easy enough for Bentley to find an apartment for the two of them, and decided to take a small break for thieving at the moment, and work on his many ideas for inventions. Quite quickly, Penelope grew tired of watching him and decided to walk to city, looking for a possible job as a mechanic. The mouse turned into one of the car garages only a five minute walk from their home, inquiring about a job. As she entered, she saw a few animals working on cars, including an elephant and a brown-haired mouse. The men all stared at her as she entered, but after years of discrimination, the young mouse knew not to show any fear. The elephant was the first to speak.

"Why, hello there, little lady." The elephant, Edwin, said with a small grin. "How can we help you today?"

"The sign in the front of your garage said you were hiring…and I am seeking a job." Penelope answered nonchalantly. All the guys just started laughing, pointing at the "little girl" that wanted to work with the big boys.

"Well, we do have an age limit…" A snake yelled from under the car he was working on.

"And you need to know what to do other then fill up a gas tank." A bull yelled as he stood by the car closest to Penelope. Penelope looked up at the bull, and saw him cover in gas. She also looked over at the engine for a brief second before turning to the bull again.

"Well, I would suggest you get out of the gas tank yourself. The engine problem for the TVR Sagaris is due to lack of compression…not a bad fuel mix. Looks like you have the common problem of a hole in the cylinder head." Penelope answered, pointing to the engine where a minuscule hole was seen as the men gathered around the car, dropping whatever they were doing. With a smirk, Penelope started lecturing the bull. "Generally, the cylinder and the cylinder head bolt together with a thin gasket pressed between them to ensure a good seal. If the gasket breaks down, small holes develop between the cylinder and the cylinder head, and these holes cause leaks which therefore making engine problems."

The room was silent for only seconds before the room started cheering for the small mouse, and jeering at the bull. The Edwin smiled as he offered his hand. "We would be glad to have you."

Penelope shook the elephant's hand with a grin. "Why, thank you," she answered with a smile.

"Louis!" The elephant yelled, and the brown-haired mouse came forward. Dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, the mouse was probably a foot taller then Penelope, and gave a smile as he came up. "Now, show this precious gem around, and make sure she doesn't make too much fun of the imbeciles."

"Yes 'um, boss sir." The male mouse wiped his hand on his jeans, before offering her his hand. Penelope took it, smiling. "So, what may your name be, miss?"

"Penelope Amtelle."

"Well Penelope, welcome to the hell hole!" And with that, all the guys started cheering until the elephant yelled at them to get back to work.

After a few hours, Louis left Penelope as she worked on a truck, to go over to his best buddies, the bull and a rabbit.

"Well dude...?" The rabbit immediately asked.

The mouse just smiled. "Well…" he stared as he looked back over toward the other mouse, "I can promise she would look smoking if I got her into something other then those overalls. Unfortunately, there is someone else…"

"DENIED!" The bull yelled laughing. The mouse just growled at him as the rabbit laughed.

"So, I guess your just gonna have to keep looking. Plenty of good-looking mice in the city." The rabbit said, extending his hands towards the sky.

"Yeah, but who else could outsmart him?" The mouse said, jerking his thumb at the bull. "Besides, this could be fun…" He said with a smirk as he watched the white mouse again. She bent over into the car hood, and he couldn't help but smiling bigger.

The rabbit just shook his head. "The heart always wants what the heart can't have, man. Besides, she can do much better then you."

"Yeah…okay Jack." He said sarcastically to the rabbit. "Eduardo, you in?"

"Of course. I always love seeing you fail."

"Ha-ha…funny." Louis said, elbowing the bull in the stomach.

**************

Penelope walked home after a long day at the garage, passing a yet another sign that covered the city…well, the entire world really. It was a diamond-shaped with heart painted on it. Inside the heart was a cat and dog with a huge red X over them. She barley noticed them, and didn't care about the "law" that would keep her away from Bentley: Animals were only to date the same species as themselves. A stupid rule that she never followed.

The mouse carried a bag of groceries, entering the apartment that she and the turtle shared. It was still early in the night, but Bentley was asleep on the desk. She placed the groceries on the counter, and walked over to him. _He was passed out, drooling a little on his plans. She could not help but smirk as she reached for a blanket that was balled up on the couch a few yards from him. "Shows you for staying up for hours on end running only of coffee, handsome." The mouse whispered, pulling a blanket over top of him._

_In his deep sleep, the turtle sighed, grabbing the blanket. She took off his thick-glasses, and lifted his head slightly to move the papers that lay under his head, currently being drenched in saliva. They were the blueprints for his "Non-Operational Vortex Distortion Space and Time Dilating Device" or for short, the god damn time machine. After a long day of non-stop working, the blueprints showed little progress. _

_Penelope looked over the plans. All of it made sense to her, but she would have clue what to do next. Penelope was not as good of a strategist as Bentley was, and when he came up with all these new ideas and theorems she had never heard of, he totally lost her. Penelope never could do that and just kept with improving already made inventions and fixing engines._ (A.N. six month of fandome! Wohoo! for all that don't know, this passage cram right from my first fanfic chapter from The Life and Times of Penelope Ann Mayer. 12-30-09)

The mouse smiled before giving him a kiss on the top of his head and going to bed herself.

*************

The young couple headed down the road, window shopping as they talked about what to get for lunch. Though the mouse didn't know it, Bentley was very anxious and fretful. All he saw as the two walked down the road were the large diamond signs, and glanced at everyone who walked past. He loved her, more then anything in the world, and it was just another law that the two would break…together; but the people that enforced this rule would be angry, and threaten to hurt them. He looked at Penelope, who didn't seem worried at all as she talked.

Penelope hadn't know it, but one of the reasons he had chose to stay in the apartment all the time was because of this. Sure London was one of the better cities, seeing New York would have no hesitation in killing him or her, but the prejudice and racism still stood strong. _I wonder how Sly and Inspector Fox are doing in Paris. Paris has new laws with interspecies mingling that allows it. A true Paradise, I believe,_ the turtle thought, knowing it would be dangerous for the two thieves to be in the same town as Cooper. As a couple of cats passed, hand-in-hand, Penelope faltered as she looked them, Bentley noticing as she looked enviously at them. The knuckles on Bentley's hands turned white as he gripped the wheels of his chair, hoping the thought would disappear from her head by the time they wouldn't need to move and she could hold his hand: or even place a small kiss on his cheek…or even lips. Bentley shuddered as he thought of the harm that would come from the usually wondrous gifts of kindness and fondness.

"What about this place, Ben?" She asked, breaking him away from the dangers of his own thoughts. He looked up at the pizzeria, and nodded. She held the door open for him, and he immediately went to a table in the far back of the restaurant. As she sat next to him, she reached to place her hand on his, when Bentley saw the waiter come from the corner of his eye. Looking like he didn't see her hand, he yawned, using his hand to cover his mouth as the waiter came to the edge of the table. He then placed his hands in his lap, hoping she wouldn't try again.

The waiter left with the orders, and the duo started talking. Talking was good, seeing that friends can just talk yet are allowed to be with each other, not matter the species, and not have to worry about the law.

Only, the turtle didn't realize that he couldn't keep this a secret forever…and he was too much in love to leave now…unless if they hurt her…

***********

Louis, Jack, and Eduardo walked down the road, looking for something to eat for their lunch break. They bickered with each other, seeing each wanted something different then the other.

"Can we please just grab a sandwich?" The rabbit whined.

"I want pizza! Sam's is right here!"

"We have pizza everyday! I want tacos!!" The bull argued. As they passed the window for the pizzeria, Louis looked in, seeing a certain lovely white mouse eating lunch. _Hmm…and good pick in food too, _he thought. As they walked further, he was her dining mate, a geeky turtle. Louis stopped and his friends looked back at him, ready to drag him away from the pizza. As they grabbed the mouse's arms, they saw why he stopped. The three just looked at the window at the two having lunch, laughing as they talked. "Hmm…she has some weird friend. He doesn't look like he has ever taken his face away from a book before…" The bull stated.

"You can say that again." Louis said laughing. The three continued walking and Louis couldn't help but think of who he was…and where her boyfriend was. After a lunch of Chinese food, they headed back to the garage, where the new teammate was already back from lunch. They headed towards her, and the mouse took a seat next to her. "Saw you at lunch today, and may I say that that guy was ugly…" He said with a smirk. "If you wanted somebody to eat lunch with, you should have joined us."

Penelope just rolled her eyes. "Something wrong with my boyfriend, Louis?"

Louis smirked. "Well miss, I have yet to meet this 'boyfriend.' I was wondering about the geeky turtle." The other two laughed with him. Penelope just looked up at him.

"Bentley, the 'geeky turtle' is my boyfriend." She replied, not concerned what so ever with the law. Not worried what would happen to her. As long as she had him, she was happy and proud to show it.

Louis, Jack, and Eduardo on the other hand were shocked. "BOYFRIEND!?" They yelled together.

"He's a turtle!"

"You're a mouse!"

"You can't be together! It is against the law!"

The female mouse stood up, looking at the three. "There is now law, just a stupid rule that each and every one of us picks to follow or not. I am allowed, whether you like it or not." She growled. The rest of the guys in the garage stopped, hearing the conversation. Most dropped their tools, not believing someone had said that. But it was true: Different species can date and not be put in jail for doing something against the law…but it was an unwritten rule of society.

The men nodded among each other, looking at the one female that worked here, and thought it was beautiful. There were too many people that hid their feels because of some genetic trait no one could control. Yet no one would stand up against the rule…but she did. The men admired her for that, and would be part of the few that would struggle to fight the unnecessary rule of society.

But right now, all they could do was stare along with the other three animals in front of Penelope. She turned away from them and picked up the wrench from the floor. She went back to working on the truck, and the bull, rabbit, and mouse slowly backed away. While the rabbit and bull went to find something to work on, Louis left in a huff, muttering he had something to do.

Louis walked up and down the streets, punching brick walls until he was sure one more punch would break his hand. Then he went to kick them. Then he saw him. He went down the sidewalk, a bag in his lap. People moved to make room for him, and the mouse quickly followed. As he got closer, he reached his hand for the back to the chair, causing poor Bentley to spill forward onto the ground. The package rattled as it fell to the cement, filled with some sort of metal. Bentley looked up at the mouse, his brow furrowed, wondering what the hell was wrong with him. Bentley opened his mouth to curse him, but Louis yelled first.

"You shouldn't be with Penelope, you turtle!" The confused look on his face disappeared quickly, and filled with anger. This mouse wore clothes covered in grease, and clearly had feeling for her. Bentley raked his mind for a two second explanation and found this: Penelope had told him about another mouse at the garage she worked at about a month ago…Louis. She told him not to worry about him, when Bentley had gotten too worked up over the fact that he might like her. She told him that Louis didn't like her. She was wrong, and clearly she had showed him a picture or something of her boyfriend.

Louis just stood there, a glare pinned on the turtle lying on the ground. Around them, people looked and stopped, waiting for something to happen. Words fumed at the mouth of Bentley, but nothing he could say would make the situation any better.

Louis realized the situation he was in, and how he could somehow break apart the mouse and turtle with the help of all of London. But, if he did, there was no way that she would ever want to be him. Louis knew he had to let someone else cast the first stone that would start an avalanche. He turned, and made his way out of the crowd of people, leaving Bentley on the ground.

************

"Hey!" Penelope cried after a long day at work. No one had talked, even after Louis had left. She was happy to see the turtle waiting for her outside. "What brings you here?"

"It's a nice night for a stroll, don't you think?" Bentley lied. In reality, he hadn't wanted her to walk home alone, after seeing what Louis had done today. Penelope nodded, and they walked into the setting sun. After the long day, all Penelope had wanted to do was go home and see Bentley. As they walked she couldn't help but stop and plant a small, innocent kiss on his lips.

Usually, the world would stop whenever momentarily when she did this to him, making him feel amazing. Unfortunately, the world truly stopped this time, yet he didn't feel quite as good. People stopped and glared at the couple. Penelope seemed oblivious to the fact, but he saw each and every animal look at him, seeming like they wanted to hit him. One or two from the large crowd had seen the earlier fight during lunch hour and put the pieces together.

Bentley pushed on, urging with his mind for Penelope to follow. He fought his way through the people, seeing they did not wish to move and let him go. No words were spoken between anyone, creating an eerie silence. Penelope gulped, finally noticing the problem her beau had seen coming earlier, and followed the turtle. The entire time home, people just stared at them, only getting better the farther they got from the incident.

They entered the apartment without a word. Penelope cautiously looked at him, seeing his face emotionless and his eyes unreadable.

"Bentley…I…" She said, unsure what to say. She was sorry for causing him pain, but not sorry for what she had done. She took another step towards him, so she was right by his side. His arm moved, grabbing her by the hips, and pulling her into his chair. She smiled up at Bentley as soon as she saw the grin on his face.

"I love you, Penelope. More then you can imagine…"

"It's just them?"

"Screw them…" He said with a smile, and lifted her face up for a kiss.

*********

Unfortunately for them, things couldn't be that simple. Soon, news spread of the love between a turtle and a mouse. Wherever the two went, they were chastised. An old man, a dog, saw them in the park together a few days after the incident, pointed his cane at them, and started lecturing them. Bentley bit his tongue, as he listened to the man tell him that it "just wasn't right" with his love right beside him. This wasn't the worst of it though. The day after that, the landlord told them to get out, saying he did not condone that type of activities.

While it seemed the entire city was after them, there were a small few that were acceptant, and willing to help. Penelope held Bentley back as the landlord threw them out, Bentley hollered at the man at the top of his lungs. As this happened, a near by male cat came over towards them and placed a hand on Bentley's shoulder. "Don't waste your breath. They aren't worth it," He said as Bentley turned towards him. "You want to get your stuff before the landlord throws it out. I know an apartment where the two of you can stay." He said in a tired voice. The cat seemed to have gone through this many times as well.

"Thank you…but who are you?" Penelope asked, seeing Bentley was in shock of someone being kind to him.

"Name's Nabi. I can help you with your stuff if you want." He offered, which Penelope nodded to. They went into the building, the landlord glaring at all three of them. They collected as much as they could, and left. Bentley looked around the room, heartbroken that they were being told to leave. He then looked ahead, Nabi and Penelope laden with the two's possessions. Bentley and Penelope had made sure to grab the mouse important things, seeing they had a bank account that would replace anything else.

The trio jumped onto a bus, and headed towards the south part of town, where the buildings became less and less attractive, and Bentley seemed get more and more worried. The other two talked, and were even laughing at times. Nabi pulled on the rope brake, and got up. They followed him for a block and a half to a building covered in horrible graffiti. Most of it clearly saying that interspecies dating was wrong and immoral. "We all try to keep it clean, but it is hard."

"We?" Penelope questioned.

"You two aren't the only ones you know. There are eleven couples, including yourselves, that have fallen in love with someone that they 'shouldn't be with.'" Nabi explained, and lead them into the building. He went behind a desk, scribbling something on a piece of paper, and pulled out a set of keys. "Room 6A is open. Only five hundred per month."

"Yes, thank you." Bentley said with a blank face. Nabi smiled, knowing the turtle was starting to feel a little better, seeing he was talking again. They went up to the sixth floor using the elevator, and Nabi opened the door for the apartment. It was more of a one room loft, but the two didn't care. The three placed down the belongings on a table in the middle of the room.

"NABI!?" A voice cried from out in the hallway.

Nabi smiled, answering back to the voice. "Yes?" A patter of feet was heard in the hallway, and the cat was ambushed by a rabbit. She kissed him, and set her feet back on the ground. Nabi turned to Penelope and Bentley. "This is Doki, my girlfriend." The mouse smiled and the turtle said hello. "You are more then welcomed to eat with us if you like…"

"No thanks Nabi. I think I just want to fall asleep." Bentley answered, the mouse nodding along with him.

"Okay. Just remember you two are not alone." Nabi said, and him and Doki left.

Bentley looked at Penelope, who looked back. Penelope smiled, and instantly, he felt much better.

*************

Working on cars, like Bentley working on inventions, made her relax and feel better, so she continued to go to the garage to work. Louis, after profusely apologizing, Penelope forgave him, along with Jack and Eduardo. Penelope still knew nothing of the incident involving Louis and Bentley, and Louis thanked the gods for that fact. What hurt him was the fact of what his friends were doing. Everyone in the garage had started another resistance against the interspecies dating rule. Many had started in the past, only to be crushed each time. If the resistance got a hundred people, the other group would have a hundred thousand. But the men tried anyway, handing out pamphlets and protesting. Instantly, the other group formed and protested to keep the rule as it was, using Bentley and Penelope as the new examples of devilish deviants.

Pretending he had an epiphany, he joined the resistance while hoping that he would still be able to win over the woman that he loved, yet didn't bother with him.

The other group gathered in the streets daily, hoping to thwart the rebellion yet again. They held banners and pick-it signs determining that interspecies dating was wrong. And unfortunately, on her way home from work, Penelope ran into one of the groups.

One, seeing the mouse, started yelling at her. She yelled back, only to be meet with a stampede of people, calling her immoral and the devil. The young mouse ran as fast as she could, yet the mob followed, chasing poor Penelope through the streets, until she raced down a street with a dead end. It was too late for her to move or find another place to escape. She raced down the end of the alley, being closely followed by the mob. In front of her was a fifteen foot metal fence. She jumped, clinging onto the fence, and tried to climb up. She managed to get one hand on the top of the fence before one of the animals grabbed her foot, pulling her back down.

Penelope landed hard on the ground, and tried not to cry as the first kick came.

*********

Bentley went through the hospital as fast as he could, finding where Penelope was staying. He turned the corner, where he entered a room filled with animals, including Penelope. Beside her was Edwin, an elephant, who was one of the leaders of the new rebellion. They were talking when Edwin jumped up, and excused himself to get a cup of coffee, as he was Bentley. Bentley looked at the mouse, seeing her smile grow ten times bigger as he entered. But he couldn't help by hate himself as he saw the bandages around her hand and a huge bruise starting on the left side of her face. He came closer to her, and pulled her into him, crying. Immediately, the others in the room started yelling, and Bentley just looked at them.

All he saw were blurs of people yelling at him for loving someone along the blur of someone he loved hurt mentally, physically, and emotionally. He put her back onto the bed, and kissed her forehead. "I love you so, so much, but…" he tried to think of what to say next. _How could I just tell her I want her safe? She would refuse to listen to me and end up hurt again. _Swallowing down on all emotions, he continued. "I just can't do this anymore." And with that, before the mouse could say anything, he left.

*********

Louis entered the hospital, leaving work as soon as Edwin called saying what had happened. As he did, he was Bentley and exploded. "How dare you! You are the reason she is hurt! You bast…"

But the turtle cut him off. Without looking at the male mouse, he said in a harsh tone, "I know. Make sure she doesn't get hurt again." Louis just looked at him as he rolled away and out of the hospital. He just looked, unbelieving he had won. Of course Penelope had gotten hurt, but that turtle just handed her over to him. The brown mouse raced up to her room, where she sat on the bed, irresolute of herself. She looked as if she was going to start crying, but was unsure how to start. Louis walked over to her, and placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked up, and finally started to cry.

He sat on the bed, allowing her to fall into his chest. He stroked her hair, telling her that eventually it would be okay. Around the room, instead of shouts, everyone looked lovingly at the couple, glad that finally the world was "correct."

*********

Louis woke up in the middle of the night, almost three weeks after Bentley had left her. The mouse stood up and got out of bed. The mouse wore only pajama bottoms, showing his muscle, not massive but tone, from lifting car parts all day long. He scratched his head and fixed his messed up his short dark down hair the best he could. He walked down the hallway to the spare bedroom, and opened the door slightly. Inside on the bed, was the white mouse. He loved to look at her sleeping, since it seemed it was the only time she looked peaceful.

Sure, she was a happy person so she still laughed when she was awake. But she seemed tense all the time, and seemed at any moment she would start to cry again. It had been one of the reasons of why she had agreed to his idea. A month long vacation in Tuscany, to get away from the city and all the memories.

And, everything did seem like far off memories. In the past three weeks, neither of them had seen the turtle or protests from the resistance. The other group had won easily. She didn't even go back to her old apartment, allowing him to buy her new outfits: jeans and shirts to work in, but skirts and blouses for after work. Louis walked closer to her and kneeled down next to her, placing his hand on her ear and softly caressing it. _Even if the heart wants what it can't have, heart enjoys everything much more wants it gets it,_ he thought.

He stood up, placing a soft kiss on her cheek. The room held two suitcases, packed and ready to go in only a few hours. He smiled, knowing she was his and no one else's.

**********

Nabi was knocking on the door…again. Refusing to answer, I just laid in the mattress that just rested on the floor. "BENTLEY!" the cat yelled.

"If you don't open up, I will!" _Great, now he had Doki with him, _he thought as the female bunny threatened. He should have taken the threat seriously though. Bentley jerked up as the door flew a crossed the room, the bunny calmly walking in as if nothing happened. She looked around, and glared at him. "Come on! We have to go!"

Bentley just sighed, wondering how powerful that kick was that took off the door. Nabi came behind her, his face full of surprise. Doki came over, pulling at Bentley's arms. He tugged back, but it was fruitless. The bunny had him in his chair, and throwing clean clothes at him. Nabi just smirked as he watched the turtle try to get away from her.

"Bentley?" she asked with a smile.

"What Doki?" he answered exasperated.

"You love her, right?"

"No."

"Liar."

Bentley sighed, turning to Nabi. "How are supposed to protect them?! I mean, everyone wants to hurt them."

Nabi came forward, taking a seat next to him. "Not everyone. Only strangers want to hurt them. But the people we know and care about will do anything to protect us. Sure the rebellion ends, but all those people that fought for us have a change of heart by the end. And the next time it starts, we have more and more people fighting with us. I don't know that if in our time we will be able to be with the ones we love without prejudice and injustice, but unless we fight, no one ever will be able too. I do this because I love Doki, and want her and the rest of the girls to fall madly in love with an idiot like us. I do this because I love Doki and hate the way people like you pretend not to love someone to 'protect them' when your just making them hurt more."

Bentley looked up at Nabi. "It will always go on…but we fight for the future right?" he ended with a soft smile. Immediately, Nabi smiled and Doki grabbed the turtle in a hug.

"Congratulations! I believe you have just won a green scarf!" She yelled, almost choking Bentley as the bunny put on the last article of clothing. "Now, she is leaving for the airport to go to Tuscany! Ready to go stop her?"

"Defiantly." They raced out of the apartment, and through the roads. Oddly, it was free of rebellions and protests, until they got to the park. Nabi and Doki stopped and stared with Bentley as they saw everyone. One group held signs against interspecies marriage, and the other wore bright green scarves holding sighs for interspecies marriage. Doki couldn't help but jump up and down as she saw the ratio. One out of every five people was wearing a green scarf. The rebellion was stronger then ever. "Seems like that future isn't that far away." Bentley said with a smile. The other two agreed, and headed for the airport.

When they arrived, Nabi handed Bentley a ticket for a trip to Tuscany. "Don't bother getting on the plane. Just get her back to us." Doki said with a smile. The turtle smiled and thanked both of them before heading off. Bentley took off through the airport, getting through security quickly when all of his supporters allowed him through to the front of the line, telling him to go get her. Bentley couldn't help but smile as he headed to Gate C23. He rounded the corner, the wheels on his chair making a screeching sound. He went to the front desk, where an attendant stood.

"Hello…I wish to…get on the plane…to Tuscany…" He huffed, showing her the ticket.

The attendant gave a slight frown. "I'm sorry sir, but if you look out the window, you can see the plane taking off right now. I am more then happy to exchange the ticket for a new one…" She stated, yet stopped, seeing he wasn't listening anymore. He went over to the big window, seeing the big plane pick up speed, and go faster and faster. Soon, it was nothing more then a spec. And he was nothing but a loveless turtle, his hand on the window as he muttered the same word over and over.

"Penelope…Penelope…Penelope…" He put his face into the palms of his hands, and wept.

********

The white mouse looked nervous: happy, but nervous. She wore a skirt and a yellow blouse, her blonde hair free flowing down her back. He placed his arm around her, hoping to comfort her somewhat as they walked through the airport. "Once we get to Tuscany, everything will be okay, I promise. Once we get there, you can just forget everything." They reached Gate C23, and he handed the attendant the tickets.

"But I don't…" She whispered.

"Trust me, darling. You will love Tuscany." He replied, placing his hand around her hips, but she backed away.

"But, I don't want to forget everything…"

"Well, we will be back here in a month. And don't you want to forget about all that trouble?"

"Yes, of course. But, I don't want to forget…him…" She answered, looking up at the brown mouse.

"You…you want…him…"

"No…I want to remember him. I don't want to forget him…"

Louis' head was about to explode. He had hurt her multiple times, yet she still loved him.

"I love you, Penelope. I truly do and always will! JUST FORGET ABOUT BENTLEY! He is gone! That damn turtle never wants to see you again! That is why he left you! That is why…that is why…" Now a tear fell from his eye. "I…I won. He told me…to protect you. I was…to protect you…" Louis shook his head, looking at the beautiful, smart white mouse that he loved. He grabbed a hold of her. "I love you more then anything…but the problem is something I will never be able to fix. Goodbye, Penelope. I'm leaving, and you are too. I'm going to Tuscany, and you're going to find him and hit him…hard…a bunch of times…" Penelope just stood there, and then suddenly wrapped her arms around him.

"Thank you…I'm sorry, Louis."

"I know…" He said as they pulled apart. He gave her a last kiss on her lips, and left to go on the plane. "I'll see you in a month." He didn't question it, but demanded it as he entered the terminal for the plane. Penelope waved with a smile, and grabbed her bag, and backed up a few feet to a row of seats.

She sat down and cried.

Seconds, minutes, hours later…she didn't know. All she knew as she looked up was that Bentley was by the window in front of her, banging on the glass…crying her name as a plane disappeared into the blue sky. She stood up, and walked over as he started crying, his face in his hands. She placed a hand on her shoulder, and he looked up. His faced was a mix of sadness and anger; the later from thinking the attendant was bugging him. But both emotions disappeared as he saw her with a smile on her face.

There was no need for words as she fell into his lap, and they kissed. Then for a reason Bentley wouldn't know for a few hours, she thumped him hard on the top of his head…hard…twice…before going back to the kiss.

* * *

Okay…I hoped you liked :]

I do not own Bentley and Penelope since they belong to Suckerpunch…

Nabi and Doki belong to this amazing you tube video called "There she is"…five episodes in all that span about four minutes each. They are really good, and have the sign so u can see, along with some stuff I may have *coughcough*borrowed*coughcough* from them…so if u like this, you will love THERE SHE IS!!!

:D


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